Touhou Broken Paradise: Twilight Gensokyo
by Annette Soleil
Summary: Darkness wanes but is never truly gone. After the passing of Gensokyo's Longest Night, a sense of calm is something which no longer comes to the land easily. Locked in constant tension with ups and downs, Gensokyo is as though a land of twilight. Sequel to "Touhou Broken Paradise: Embrace of Darkness".
1. Chapter 1: Alice

AUTHOR'S NOTE: _This story is a sequel to Touhou Broken Paradise ~ Embrace of Darkness, and contains many spoilers regarding the ending of the previous story. Don't read this without having read the previous story first.  
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 **Content Warnings:** _This story contains examples of language, violence, and non-explicit sexual references. Possibly some character death. This will be the only warning.  
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 **Part 1: New Beginnings**

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 **Chapter 1: Alice**

Alice stared up at the twisted monstrosity that was now Pandaemonium. A hideous, monumental fortress, standing at the center of the warped Dark City. The majority of the lesser denizens of Makai that continued to live in the city (many had fled, seeking out safer areas) seemed to have grown complacent with the changes that Kana had made. Either not caring, or not daring to voice their complaints. The fortress itself was the worst of all. It was just so _big_ compared to everything else that it stuck out like a sore thumb. A tower that looked like it had been constructed by a small child. Its front walls were in ruin on the lower levels, but Alice supposed she couldn't _actually_ blame Kana for it. That part had been Miasma's doing.

It was the second time that Alice had laid her eyes upon the place in its current state. A place that, many years ago, she had once called home, which was now almost unrecognizable. It sickened her just as much as it had the first time, but she kept her silence.

"It's simply _marvelous,_ isn't it~?" Kana said, letting out a weary sigh. Alice winced at the sound of the poltergeist's voice. It was, after all, _her_ fault that Makai was in such a deplorable condition. And here she was now. Marveling over the contorted ruins, like an artist proudly examining her greatest masterpiece.

Alice focused her eyes forward, and began to walk along the central street.

"Now, that is just _rude."_ Kana stuck her tongue out at Alice behind her back, childishly mocking the woman.

"I don't think she really _cares,_ Kana," Rumia replied, grinning that sharp-toothed smile of hers. "That one's got a stick shoved so far up her grumpy ass, I bet she probably had one of those dolls of hers lodge it up there personally."

The two laughed at Rumia's poor excuse for a joke, and Alice could feel anger boiling up underneath her normally calm exterior. Kana's foolishness came as no surprise, but there was something different about Rumia. There was no true maliciousness in her words, not really. Crude and vulgar though it was, Rumia seemed to be sincerely _joking_ with her, rather than openly antagonizing as she had done in their previous encounters. When Rumia had been defeated only the day before, she had gone down screaming obscenities and provocations until the very end. And yet, despite all of her boasts and threats, her claims that she would die fighting, hadn't she given up in the very end?

Something had happened to Rumia, and possibly even Kana for that matter. Something unseen, that Alice knew nothing about. But in the span of less than a full day since Alice had last seen her, since that fateful confrontation at the top of Pandaemonium, what could have possibly happened?

The various entrances of Pandaemonium were still sealed off, all but the one on the top floor that led directly into the throne room (another thing to thank Miasma for), and the jagged entryway that opened onto the Dark City's main road (Kana had at least done the kindness of clearing the rubble from the front entrance). Looking into that foreboding doorway once more, Alice could remember very clearly the fateful events of the day before.

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The small group of individuals that had been selected for the task of hunting down Rumia and Kana had emerged hastily from the temporary border that Yukari had been able to create into Makai. Reimu, Miasma, Alice, and Sakuya to specifically deal with Rumia, while Marisa, Youmu, and Sanae had been chosen to distract and subdue Kana.

The destruction of the Hakurei Shrine at the hands of Kana and her Void powers had been only narrowly avoided the night before. Rumia and Kana had been backed into a corner, overwhelmed and outnumbered, and it had been their last ditch effort to make an escape. And though Kana's efforts had been stopped before her newly created Void pocket could have expanded out of control, it had proven to be enough of a distraction for Rumia to escape Sakuya's grasp and slink off to Makai to plot her retaliation, and lick her wounds. Reimu had known that if backed into a similar situation, Kana would no doubt resort to her same tricks. A specialized infiltration force was crucial if they wanted to take the two down without major collateral damage to Makai's structural integrity. Alice had insisted upon that very strongly.

"Rumia and Kana will already know that we're here," Yukari stated the moment that she had closed the gap leading back to Gensokyo. She had taken them as close to Pandaemonium as she dared. Rumia's dark abilities would have prevented Yukari from taking them directly inside safely. "I have no doubt that the two of them were listening in on our entire plan. You'll all have to be careful from here on out."

"I take it you're not comin' with us, eh Yukari?" Marisa asked, and Yukari merely shook her head. They all knew that her powers had no effect on Rumia, a fact she would take full advantage of. Rumia's grudge against Yukari was fairly common knowledge these days.

Alice had only distantly heard Yukari's warning, and hadn't even noticed Marisa at all. She was too focused on the sight of Pandaemonium that stood before here. She fell to her knees, a soft cry of horrified anguish escaping her lips as she beheld what Kana had done, silencing Yukari, and drawing everyone's attention. "My home... what have they _done_ to it...?"

No one among the group could offer any words of condolence upon Alice. Many among them were only now seeing Makai for the very first time, while others simply had never seen the city itself, and hadn't spared the twisted fortress more than a casual examination. Only Alice, who had once called Makai her home, could understand how utterly appalling the sight truly was.

Alice got to her feet, and a steely resolve had taken hold of her expression. "Kana's the one who did this. The one who turned my old home into some kind of... childish madhouse."

"That place is probably one enormous trap, now," Sakuya said, stepping to the head of the group. She examined the exterior of the towering fortress. Where once there had been numerous entrances (all of which had once been heavily guarded, of course), there was now only one. The long, central road that led right into the gaping front door. "Kana's a poltergeist. She has probably taken control of the entire fortress, and plans to use it as a weapon to hinder our advance. And we're going to have to climb the entire fortress, all the way to the top."

"Shinki's throne room was on the top floor. I'm sure that's where Rumia has holed herself up," Reimu stated with some certainty. "I can see where the uppermost entrance was blocked off, so that we wouldn't be able to simply fly up and break through the easy way."

"My mother's fortress is not some _weapon_ to be used by some insane poltergeist and her psychotic friend." Alice's eyes never left that looming monument to Kana's insanity. "I'm going to make both of them pay for this. And I'm going to get my mother back."

"Just... try not to let Rumia take advantage of that, Alice," Reimu said, and placed a comforting hand on Alice's shoulder. She barely seemed to react to the sudden contact, and did not turn away to face Reimu. "We're depending on you, Alice. Me, Sakuya, Miasma... we'll need you to be there for us during the fight against Rumia."

"I know, Reimu," Alice replied, "I know." She seemed to have regained a bit of her composure, and that was good. Alice knew what was at stake, and she couldn't afford to let her emotions get the better of her. It had been so long since there was ever so much at stake, and now more than ever, she had to act with her usual calculated strategy. Rumia would not be an opponent that would play fair.

For the first time in more than ten years, Alice had brought her locked grimoire. And she had every intention of using it, if that was what it took. "I'm ready. Let's get this over with."

Yukari did not accompany the remaining seven past Pandaemonium's borders. Rumia's dark influence was thick in the atmosphere, and Yukari suspected that if she were to delve inside, she might not be able to use her powers _at all._ Not even to aid in distracting Kana. Their only portal back into Gensokyo had left them, and there was no way to go but forward, into the dark embrace of Rumia's stronghold.

Pandaemonium had once been the greatest structure in all of Makai, a crystalline tower of great significance. Now, the crystal that made up its structure was cracked and jagged. While the tower seemed stable, large cracks ran through its walls, and in other places, pieces had been removed entirely, turning the once beautiful building into a hideous, almost living thing.

The lowest floor of the tower consisted entirely of one room. A spacious area with a high ceiling, stretching off in every direction. A sort of gathering space, perhaps larger than it ever really needed to be, that had in the past served as a venue for various events that Shinki had once hosted. Alice could even remember that her mother had once insisted on celebrating Alice's birthday in that very room, an event to which nearly everyone in Makai had attended. The room had once been extravagantly furnished, but most of that had now been destroyed, or tossed so carelessly aside. Most of the remnants of these furnishings had been used to barricade the various staircases that were spread along the outer walls, leading to the upper floors. Only the grand stairway at the far end of the hallway had been left unprotected. Alice suspected that all of this had been done very recently indeed. Yukari had been right. Rumia knew that they were here, and had most likely known since the moment they had formulated the plan.

Right on cue, a high voice echoed through the gathering space, reverberating loudly off the crystal walls. "Welcome, welcome, heroes of Gensokyo~!" Kana's voice filled their ears, issuing forth from the very fortress itself. "We welcome you all to Pandaemonium! Our humble home, and soon, it will also be your tomb!"

There was a loud crash behind the group, and Alice turned to see a thick crystal sheet drop in front of the exit, completely sealing the seven of them inside. Miasma was the first to try and simply break her way through with nothing more than her brute force, but Alice knew that it wouldn't work. The only reason _Kana_ had been able to tear the place about was because she had been manipulating it from the inside.

It was at that moment that Kana materialized on top of the chandelier that dangled from the center of the ceiling, probably the only thing in the room that was actually still intact. _"I_ shall be your host for the evening," she said, gesturing at herself in a rather over-the-top manner, "as my _darling_ Rumia has deemed that none of you are even worth her time anymore. And so, it falls to me to eliminate you.~"

"If you're going to fight, then come down here and fight!" Youmu shouted, brandishing the larger of her two katanas. "Otherwise I shall cut you where you stand, Kana!"

"Oh _no!"_ Kana clutched her hands to her face in an expression of faux horror, which only served to anger Youmu further. "But you're all the way down there, and I'm way up here.~ Why don't you come get me? Unless you're _scared_ of little old me, that is.~" Kana's expression shifted then from her false display of fear to one of childish taunting. And Youmu had taken the bait.

"If that's what you want, then fine!" Youmu shouted, and clutching her sword at her side, began to bolt toward Kana with incredible speed.

"Youmu, wait!" Reimu tried to call out, but Youmu was already mid-sprint, and showed no sign of stopping.

"Don't worry Reimu, I got her covered!" Marisa sped between Alice and Reimu straddled across her broom, doing her best to close the distance between herself and Youmu. Sanae was next to follow Marisa's lead, and the two were quick to begin pelting Kana with their own volleys of danmaku, while Youmu continued her assault.

"Come on, Reimu!" Miasma ran up from the back of the group, patting a hand on Reimu's shoulder as she passed. "We have to go after Rumia, remember?"

"She's right. Let those three handle Kana, the rest of us should move on," Sakuya added briefly, before following after Miasma. Alice and Reimu both exchanged a glance in silence, but the look on Reimu's face said one thing to Alice plainly: to put aside her feelings toward Kana, and what she'd done to her former home. At least for the time being. Alice nodded curtly, and the two were following close behind Sakuya and Miasma.

All the while, in the span of what had only been a few seconds, Youmu continued her charge toward Kana. The crazed poltergeist laughed with delight from her perch, and began erecting crystal pillars from the floor, immense spikes meant to impede Youmu's advance. At her high speed, she would've surely been flattened if she were to collide head on with one of the obstacles, and she forced herself to swerve out of their way. However, her reaction time slowed as she did this, her own speed beginning to work against her.

There came a moment when Kana had brought up a particularly wide portion of the floor, directly in Youmu's path, leaving the half-phantom swordsman with almost no time to respond. For the briefest instant, Alice took notice as Sakuya clasped her hand around Miasma's, just before the two vanished before her eyes. A heavy crash echoed through the room a mere moment later, and Alice's eyes were pulled back to Youmu's path, where she saw Kana's latest impediment had vanished into a cloud of crystal dust and debris. Sakuya stood by as Youmu continued her charge, a fair distance away from where she had been the previous instant, while Miasma stood crouched at the other end of the shattered barrier, having destroyed it with Sakuya's aid just in time.

Kana's mouth hung agape, shocked that her attempts had failed. With the distance between the two finally closed, Youmu jumped into the air at top speed. Alice could feel as time seemed to slow around them, and she found herself watching as Youmu left the ground, seemingly in slow motion. Everything afterward happened almost too quickly for her to see. In a moment, though it hadn't been instantaneous as it had been with Sakuya and Miasma, Youmu propelled forward, cutting down the chandelier that Kana stood upon. The poltergeist had only narrowly avoided being cut down herself, having thrown herself back at the last second, but she couldn't stop herself from falling down toward the floor along with the ruined chandelier.

As Youmu dropped to the floor, her attack complete, Marisa and Sanae both closed in on Kana, Marisa with mini-hakkero in hand, and Sanae with her gohei. Marisa charged her Master Spark, while Sanae sealed Kana's immediate routes of escape, surrounding her with a mixed combination of danmaku and sealing charms. Kana's body seemed to crackle with electricity, and she clutched her arms to her body and curled up in mid-air, taking a defensive position. "Love Sign: Master Spark!" Marisa announced, as her attack finally commenced, summoning an immense stream of energy that was aimed directly at Kana. The blast connected, passing straight on through until it collided with the far wall above the stairway. Under normal circumstances, Alice probably would have chastised Marisa for her blatant lack of restraint, but this was clearly not a situation where holding back would be an option. Her grip tightened on her grimoire even as she thought that.

Sanae's own array of danmaku closed around Kana as Marisa's attack faded, hoping to finish what Marisa's attack had started. As the smoke cleared, and the group specially tasked with targeting Rumia reached the stairway, they all could see that Kana hovered amidst the blast radius, still alive, but not unharmed. Traces of Void energy flickered in the air before vanishing, while the last remnants of Kana's electrical energy crackled around her. Youmu's sword had made a thick slash across Kana's stomach, though it had only sliced through her clothing. Despite the barrier she had tried to erect around herself, however, Kana's body and clothing both showed signs of burning from Marisa's attack.

Kana coughed, comically blowing out a puff of smoke from her mouth (Alice groaned in irritation, seeing that Kana no doubt viewed the whole thing as a joke), before she started fanning herself, as though she were hot. "Now, that's no way to treat a lady. Ganging up on me like that," Kana said, sighing heavily as she started to drift back up toward the ceiling. "But if you want to play rough with me, I'm gonna return the favor.~"

Kana's body then burst into a bright flash of her soul birds, which all flew up through the ceiling of the first floor entryway. "Congratulations on beating level one, warriors of Gensokyo.~" Kana's voice issued forth from the fortress itself, "I shall be awaiting your arrival on level two. It only gets harder from here, everyone.~"

"This is just some kind of game to them!" Sanae shouted to no one in particular, perhaps to Kana, who did not bother with a confirmation one way or another. "She just wants to toy with us, and see how high we can get before she finally picks us off."

Reimu sighed, and the seven members of their group began to gather back together at the foot of the stairs. "Alice," she asked, turning toward the woman in question, "just how many floors _are_ there in Pandaemonium?"

Alice shook her head. "I don't know _exactly,_ but..." She hesitated. The floors hadn't exactly been numbered, but she only knew that the majority of the middle levels of the fortress were actually usually empty. Shinki, Yumeko, and Alice herself had once lived toward the upper levels, along with Shinki's personal maid staff, and other individuals she was particularly close with. Perhaps at one time long in the past, before Alice had been born, the entire fortress had once been used. Alice could say for certain, however, that there were more floors than she dared imagine. "There are more than fifty floors for certain. Perhaps close to a hundred."

There were several audible sounds of shock and exasperation among the group, and a particularly loud groan from Marisa. "Oh, come on! There's no way we're gonna get through all that!" Marisa groaned a second time, and Alice found she had to agree.

"There's no other way. We'll never be able to break through the fortress itself. Especially not with Kana controlling it from the inside." Alice heard no others ideas from the group, nor did she expect any, though she'd sworn Miasma had muttered something under her breath. "If we can find one of the side stairways that _wasn't_ blocked by Kana, we might be able to find a shortcut to the throne room that Kana doesn't know about. She's only lived here for a few short weeks. I spent most of my young life living in this fortress. She'll have slipped up _somewhere."_

"We'll have to hope you're right, Alice," Sakuya said, taking the first step toward the second floor of the immense fortress, "If we're forced to go through all of Pandaemonium, one floor at a time, there's no way any of us are going to survive."

Alice wished she could have given Sakuya some kind of assurance that she could find them a shortcut, but she was doubtful. She tried not to let it show, but she couldn't help but feel her hopes drop once they'd reached the second floor. Unlike the lower level, the second floor was a long stretch of intersecting hallways, each of which led off in perpendicular directions, all containing the doors to the many rooms that filled the floor. Most were no larger than a hotel bedroom, meaning there were well over a hundred rooms on that floor alone. Though there was a stairway to the third floor on the opposite end of the main hall, all other hallways had been blocked off by piles of crystal debris. Had Kana truly barricaded all other directions in Pandaemonium? Would they _really_ be forced to survive her insane gauntlet, floor by floor?

"Marisa, can I talk to you for a moment?" Alice could hear Miasma say from the back of the group, but she barely noticed. The two had begun to whisper privately behind her, out of earshot from Alice or the others.

"Welcome, everyone, to level two!" Kana's voice reverberated through the hall, though this time, she did not emerge from wherever she was hiding. A loud thud echoed alongside it as the stairway behind them was closed off. "I hope all of you are ready, because there's no going back! Now, let's begin~!"

As Kana's voice cut out, the entire fortress seemed to shake in its foundation. Whatever Kana had begun to do didn't seem readily obvious at first glance, but it took only a few seconds for Alice to notice what was going on. "The walls!" Alice shouted as she tried to warn her companions, "The entire hallway is closing in on us!"

"Guess we aren't gonna have a choice, eh Miasma?" From behind Alice, Marisa spoke out loud this time, and hovered forward on top of her broom.

Miasma hopped onto the front of the broom, ducking down so that she wouldn't be impeding Marisa's vision, and she turned to face Alice as they hovered past. "Sorry about this, Alice!"

Alice barely had time to puzzle over this, before the two were already speeding off. "Better hang on tight, Miasma!" Marisa's voice echoed back as the two sped toward the end of the hallway. Alice shook off the distraction, and began to follow after the two, not concerning herself about whatever it was that the two had planned. She only had to concern herself with avoiding being crushed by Kana.

Alice and the others followed behind Marisa and Miasma, everyone either running or flying as fast as they could manage (Sakuya in the lead, regularly stopping time as she ran, so that she appeared to be teleporting forward every few seconds), as they tried to keep pace with those two at the front, consistently picking up in speed. Alice only briefly registered Marisa and Miasma both ducking down low as they approached the end of the hallway, with no sign of slowing. Even after they had reached the safe zone beyond the ever approaching walls.

The entire fortress shook as the two collided with the far wall, crashing through what Alice had once assumed to be indestructible defenses as though it was no more than a brick wall. Crystal fragments exploded outward, and the entire outer wall seemed to be collapsing. Sakuya was the first to leap through the opening, followed by Reimu and then Alice herself. Youmu, though she had reached the end of the hallway before Reimu and Alice, stayed at the foot of the stairwell, waiting for Sanae to catch up.

Outside, back in the open air of Makai, Alice watched in dread as the front wall of Pandaemonium shook and collapsed, creating a veritable avalanche of crystal boulders that tumbled to the ground below. The opening that Miasma had created was almost completely covered, and though it was still just large enough for a person to fit through, she could see that Youmu and Sanae both stood beyond it, not daring to go through and risk being caught in the avalanche of debris.

"Hey, that's not fair at all! You bunch of cheaters!" Kana then flew out from Pandaemonium's walls, just as the rumblings began to calm, and started shouting at those that had escaped. "You all still had a ton of levels to go through, I had the whole thing planned out from beginning to end!"

"There's still two of us left in here, Kana!" Sanae called from within the lower levels of the fortress, drawing Kana's attention back. "Forget the rest of them, and come back down here and fight us!"

"We'll deal with Kana ourselves!" Youmu added, though Alice couldn't see her beyond the rubble. "The rest of you go find Rumia!"

"Oh, none of you are any fun anyway. Just breaking out of our little game like that," Kana said with a sigh, as she started to drift backward toward Pandaemonium. "I don't even _want_ to play with a group of cheaters like you."

"Let's just go, before she changes her mind," Reimu said, before flying up toward Pandaemonium's peak. Miasma and Marisa, both still on the latter's broom, followed behind, while Alice and Sakuya brought up the rear.

The heavy crystal doors had been raised in front of the throne room's entrance on the top floor, one of the _only_ entrances that hadn't been barricaded by a cluster of debris, and instead was blocked off by Pandaemonium's built-in defenses.

Alice looked down at these doors, easily the most heavily reinforced part of the entire structure, and then back at Miasma. Upon seeing what Miasma had done to the lower levels of the fortress (Alice felt a sudden twinge of hatred toward Yuuka), she felt certain that Miasma might even be able to breach the throne room. Yet she couldn't bear to watch her mother's home be damaged before her eyes any further. Alice nodded her head, and averted her eyes away from both Pandaemonium and her companions.

"Well, Miasma," Marisa said, upon receiving the confirmation from Alice, "think you've got it in ya to break down one more wall?"

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The reinforced doors, which had once been the throne room's last line of defense, had been broken inward by Miasma one day prior. While the doors themselves remained on their hinges, they would never perform their task again. Nor did Alice believe they had really done much good, all things considered. Rumia had snuck past them, when she had trapped Shinki, and then Miasma had burst through them when they were instead used for Rumia's own protection.

The jagged and ugly throne that Rumia had sat upon that day still stood at the back end of the room, a hideous thing of Rumia and Kana's destruction, created by lumping together various chunks of crystal, salvaged from elsewhere in the fortress. Only now did Alice actually understand its true purpose. "Your mother and her maid are hidden beneath it," Rumia had said, and Alice hadn't been surprised, though she hadn't actually thought of looking inside of it during their confrontation with Rumia yesterday.

Alice turned to face Rumia for the first time since their arrival in Makai, and she noticed how odd the darkness youkai seemed now. A sort of somber mood seemed to have overtaken her, something Alice had never seen before in any of their previous encounters. She had noticed Rumia's penchant for rapid mood swings, but never anything like this.

Kana frowned, and drifted between Rumia and Alice, nudging at the former's cheek. "Hey, you okay Rumia? You got real quiet all of a sudden," Kana said, having taken notice of the same thing that Alice had.

Rumia merely grunted, and raised her hand, as if to swat Kana away. The poltergeist drifted back from the lazily thrown hit, and crossed her arms in concern. "Just free them, and get this shit over with."

Kana said nothing, but complied with Rumia's request. Her soul birds flooded the crystal throne, and the jagged protrusion began to sink down into the floor at her command. Trapped within the base of the throne, hidden behind some kind of semi-transparent black barrier, no doubt powered by a combination of Kana's Void magic and Rumia's dark powers, were Shinki and Yumeko. With a snap of Kana's fingers, its source of power was extinguished, and the barrier fell.

The goddess's eyes locked with those of her daughter's the moment the barrier had fallen away, and a relieved smile flooded Shinki's features at the sight.

"Mother...!" Alice ran to meet Shinki, and the two embraced, happily reunited once more. After everything she'd gone through to reach that point, Shinki and all of Makai were safe. She felt as though she could almost cry. She would have, if she weren't so skilled at keeping her composure.

"Oh Alice, you've no idea how much I've missed you!" Shinki held her arms in a tight embrace around her adopted daughter. The two stood together in silence for a time. Kana even placed a hand to her cheek and smiled at the reunion, finding it about as heartwarming as a box of puppies. Even though she had been the one to trap Shinki in the first place. Given the chance, Kana might have very well thrown that box of puppies into a river anyway.

"I really hate to interrupt your reunion, Lady Shinki, Alice," Yumeko said, breaking the silence, "as good as it is to see you again, in particular. But why are _they_ still here?" Yumeko gestured toward Rumia and Kana. The latter of the two stuck her tongue right back out at Yumeko in response, while Rumia remained as silent as before, only glaring with that bizarre expression of mixed remorse and anger.

Shinki opened her eyes and turned her gaze up to meet Rumia's, and she finally released Alice from her embrace. "Rumia..." Shinki stepped forward, and Rumia flinched. "Please, Rumia... can you at least tell me why you did... all of this...?" Shinki gestured around the throne room, which was in complete shambles after the final battle that had taken place within, broadly indicating everything Rumia had done since sealing Shinki away. Rumia remained silent, but her body began to tremble. "I _know_ there was something between us, Rumia... but something changed inside of you. Something that wasn't there before."

Rumia clenched her fists, and her body seemed to twitch. She bit down on her lower lip, hard enough that her razor-like teeth drew blood. "Just... get out of my fucking head!" Rumia's left hand unclenched, but her fingers locked up, and she scraped them down the side of her face like a claw.

"Rumia...? Are... are you okay...?" Shinki adopted a concerned expression, and held a finger up to her lip as she watched Rumia claw at her face a second time. Kana reached out to touch Rumia's shoulder, but she flung her arm out, shoving Kana away, much to her surprise. Violent as she was, Rumia had never actually acted out toward Kana before in such a manner.

When Rumia looked up, her expression was not unlike the one Alice had seen right before she had saved Miasma from having her face burned off by Rumia. Blood ran down her cheeks from her own self-inflicted scratches, and there was blind fury in her eyes. Pure hatred emanated from her, with no clear target. Even Kana clutched a hand to her mouth in fear at the sight. Her clenched fist began to pound at the side of her head, and it almost seemed as if Rumia were trying to beat herself into unconsciousness.

Finally, without any prior indication, all of Rumia's anger fell away, as though it had never been there at all. Her arms dropped to her sides, now limp. Her eyes showed only confusion, with a slowly dawning sense of horror. It was almost like looking at a completely different person.

While Alice and Yumeko both seemed to be more confused by what had just happened, both Shinki and Kana seemed to share a similar expression of realization – Shinki's more of a sudden happiness, whereas Kana seemed to have been overtaken by a spontaneous sadness.

"S... Shinki..." Rumia stammered out, in a voice that Alice barely recognized as her own. She sounded on the verge of _tears_ of all things. There was an undeniable innocence to her tone that was entirely unlike the Rumia that Alice had come to know. And yet, there was also something familiar to it. "I... I'm... I'm so sorry, Shinki...!"

Rumia abruptly ran forward, and clutched her arms around Shinki's waist, and began to sob uncontrollably against the demon goddess. "Oh, Rumia... _my_ Rumia... I _knew_ you were still in there somewhere," Shinki said, and she smiled fondly down at the crying youkai that had caused so much trouble.

"I saw... I saw _everything_ that she did. That _I_ did! Those things she said... what she did to some of them... those people she _killed_..." Rumia continued to blurt out her statements between sobs, barely intelligible with her face almost completely pressed to Shinki's chest. "It was like there were two people inside of me... and the other one took over our body. And she _made_ me watch all of it... and I couldn't do anything to stop what she did! What she made _me_ do!"

"Shh... it's okay now, Rumia..." Shinki gently ran a hand through Rumia's hair, comforting the woman she still seemed to love. "You're back now. That's all that matters to me."

"Lady Shinki, you can't _seriously_ believe this!" Yumeko declared, pointing her hand accusingly at Rumia. "That woman and that poltergeist _friend_ of hers nearly destroyed your entire world! I'm amazed she didn't simply kill us both when she had the chance!"

"Mother..." Alice took a step forward, and clenched her hands together in front of her. "You haven't seen all the things that Rumia has done since you were sealed away. She's killed countless humans from the village, and numerous others. She tried to kill _me,_ and some of my friends." Alice wanted to hate Rumia for everything she had done, and seeing the way that Shinki now comforted her, and seeing the love in Shinki's eyes... it was something she had a very hard time accepting. And yet, thinking back on it, Alice realized what had sounded so familiar about Rumia now. It was as though the _original_ Rumia was speaking through a now adult body, the childish Rumia that Alice had met only a few times in the past.

"Stop, both of you. Please." Shinki held a hand close to Rumia's head, as though she were trying to shield her from the disbelief shared by Alice and Yumeko. Rumia raised her head, first looking at Shinki, and then back at Alice. She felt her heart sink, meeting Rumia's gaze. This was _not_ the same Rumia that had murdered Miko and Medicine, and who had threatened to destroy Gensokyo itself. Yet, Alice knew that the Rumia she still despised lay somewhere dormant inside of that woman, who was being held in a loving embrace by her mother. "I believe what Rumia is telling me, and that's final. I _know_ that the Rumia I love would never have done all those things."

"Unfortunately, that's not _my_ Rumia over there anymore," Kana said with a heavy sigh. "I know when I'm not wanted. I'll just leave you two alone."

"Just one thing, before you leave, Kana," Shinki said, drawing Kana's attention just as she had started to drift off toward the exit. "If you would kindly return control of Makai to me, I would be willing to forget that this whole thing ever happened."

"Yes, yes.~" Kana replied, though she didn't seem anywhere near as enthused as her tone suggested. She snapped her fingers, causing several of her soul birds to emerge from within Pandaemonium and return to Kana. Still others appeared from other areas outside of the fortress, mostly from the Dark City. Alice briefly felt the tower shake from somewhere on the lower levels, as some part of the foundation must have collapsed without Kana's influence to keep it intact.

Shinki smiled kindly back at Kana, but not without a sense of impatience. "The _rest_ of it too, if you please."

"Oh, you're no fun.~ Can't even let me keep half of the city for myself, can ya?" Once again, another smaller swarm of Kana's soul birds flew through the walls at her command, rejoining the poltergeist. Shinki once again smiled thinly at Kana, but she said nothing. Somehow Alice knew that Kana hadn't _completely_ relinquished her control of Makai, but it seemed Shinki was at least satisfied with what she'd reclaimed.

"Well, Rumia," Kana said again, and this time Alice could hear the twinge of sadness that lined her words. The now-innocent half of Rumia turned to meet the poltergeist's gaze. "You'll know where you find me, if you ever come back."

Rumia nodded, and for a split second, Alice swore she could see a glimpse of the _other_ Rumia somewhere in her eyes. It was gone just as quickly as it had appeared, leaving Alice to wonder if she had ever seen it at all.

"Mother... what are you going to do if that other Rumia _does_ come back?" Alice asked, hesitant to even admit out loud that she believed Rumia's claims.

"I still don't believe that Rumia is telling the truth to begin with. Even _if_ her poltergeist is backing up her claims," Yumeko said rather stiffly, even more unwilling to accept the matter than Alice herself. "If she truly _does_ have two versions of herself sharing the same body, how would something like that even happen?"

"I think, maybe... it must have happened when Yukari sealed my powers," Rumia suggested. She pointed a hand at where her ribbon, the seal that Yukari had used, had once been in her hair. "I mean... _I_ don't remember anything like that. Until you removed it, Shinki... that ribbon had been in my hair for as long as I can even remember. But the other me _does_ remember things from before that. I could feel her remembering them."

"The Rumia I knew, the one I knew when she still had her powers sealed, struck me as being rather simple-minded," Alice said, remembering back to her first encounters with the child-like darkness youkai. "Maybe Yukari put some kind of intelligence-dampening spell on that ribbon. So that Rumia wouldn't be able to remember what happened."

"Perhaps that split her mind in two." Shinki stared upwards in thought, still absent-mindedly stroking Rumia's head. "So we have the original Rumia, the violent one from before Yukari sealed her away. And now the _good_ Rumia, the one in front of us now."

Alice had to admit, that it at least seemed _possible,_ though perhaps unlikely. Yukari had not gone into great detail on how she had performed the sealing of Rumia's powers. If Alice truly believed that Rumia _did_ develop some sort of multiple personality disorder, she could only say that one thing was certain.

The other Rumia would undoubtedly surface again. And they would have no way to predict her return, nor any way to stop it.


	2. Chapter 2: Kosuzu

**Chapter 2: Kosuzu**

* * *

"So, Akyuu. What exactly _are_ you researching now?" Kosuzu Motoori asked of her friend, who had holed herself up in the Suzunaan library almost constantly for the last day or so (aside from a brief period of about an hour for which Kosuzu could not account for, nor would Akyuu elaborate upon). "I don't see what most of this stuff has to do with Rumia." Ever since Reimu, Marisa, and the others had gone into Makai to hunt down that darkness youkai, Akyuu had gone to Suzunaan with Kosuzu to begin researching on Rumia's origins. Yukari had given everyone in the shrine a brief explanation of her own past encounters with Rumia following the Lunar War, and Akyuu had taken it upon herself to try and learn more.

"Just some additional research, Kosuzu. I'll need to update the Gensokyo Chronicle, after all," Akyuu replied with a brief smile, before delving back into her books. Ever since that short period during which Akyuu had seemingly left the library, something had overtaken her. A sort of unsettling nervousness that bordered on madness. Though Akyuu still delved into many books on ancient youkai, her research had drifted into another direction entirely, a much broader area of study. Instead, she'd begun asking Kosuzu for books relating to long forgotten gods and goddesses (in addition to those about similarly forgotten youkai), ones who had long since lost faith, and faded out of both memory and existence. While youkai whose existence had been recorded had a chance to return to life through demon books (artifacts that Kosuzu possessed many of), goddesses returning to life weren't quite so common, and records of their existence were rare. Kosuzu had no idea just what it was that Akyuu was trying to accomplish.

"You know, it'd help if you actually told me what's gotten into you," Kosuzu said, as she lifted another stack of books onto the desk on which Akyuu was working. "I'm the only human in Gensokyo who can even read these demon books, and that's probably where you're gonna find any information on Rumia, or... whatever else it is you're looking into now."

Akyuu seemed to consider this, and her gaze drifted toward the small collection of demon books that Kosuzu had gathered into a pile near the desk. It was true that Akyuu could not read them, she had even tried to (very carefully) peruse through a couple of them. While she had indeed memorized their contents, she couldn't actually understand them. It seemed there was plenty that Akyuu wasn't telling Kosuzu, and on more than one occasion Kosuzu believed that Akyuu might _finally_ reveal just what that was, until she reconsidered the matter again and kept her silence.

Kosuzu's collection of demon books was easily the largest in Gensokyo, even larger than what had been held in the library of the Scarlet Devil Mansion (Kosuzu believed that hers was in fact the largest collection in the _world,_ but she was quite mistaken). Kosuzu and Akyuu both had spent some time at the mansion for their own safety while Rumia was on her rampage (though Akyuu had been none too fond of spending any prolonged time in a mansion populated by powerful youkai), and Patchouli Knowledge, a friend of Remilia Scarlet and the resident librarian, had been more than happy to allow the two into her library. 'Better you than that thieving witch,' she had said, although Kosuzu had been very tempted to take some of Patchouli's _own_ demon books, which she'd been reluctant to show in the first place.

The so-called 'demon books' were very aptly named, as they had a tendency to be very dangerous. Many of them, if not handled carefully, were capable of unleashing ancient and powerful youkai back into the world. Kosuzu was well aware of this, but in the time since she'd attained the ability to decipher these demon books, she'd read through many of the ones in her collection.

Though even _she_ knew to be wary of a certain few. The first example that jumped to mind was a fabled tome in her possession known as the Necronomicon, which strangely enough in spite of her power, even she had difficulty deciphering. There were also, of course, a few others that she recognized to contain long extinct youkai. On more than one occasion, she'd even inadvertently released a few of these youkai, which had of course involved both Reimu and Marisa in setting things back to normal.

Kosuzu suspected that Akyuu knew _something_ that she herself did not. Something that might spurn her into delving into one of those books that even she thought better to be left alone, and thus Akyuu had opted to remain silent. If anything, it only made Kosuzu _more_ curious. In another room, out of Akyuu's sight, Kosuzu had already gathered up a few of her rarer demon books, the Necronomicon among them, for a bit of research of her own. She had yet to have any luck finding anything in relation to Rumia, however.

Kosuzu had just been about to return to her research, when Akyuu finally _did_ speak up. "I can't tell you exactly _what_ it is I'm looking for, Kosuzu," Akyuu began, "but there are a few names that might help narrow down my search, if you can find them."

"And these names have _something_ to do with Rumia, right Akyuu?"

"Maybe." Kosuzu frowned. Seemed that was all the confirmation she was going to get. "There's two in particular I'm looking for. The first is 'Garnet Ferre', but I don't think you'll be able to find anything about that one." It was certainly never a name that Kosuzu had ever heard before, that much was obvious. "The second is only a surname, 'Marama'." A troubled look took Akyuu's features then as she added, barely above a whisper, "I _know_ I've heard that name somewhere before..."

Kosuzu caught the quiet statement all the same. Something really must have been bothering Akyuu if she of all people was having trouble remembering something. After all, Akyuu had the ability to remember anything she'd ever seen or heard, including most of the memories of her previous incarnations, as far back as the original Hieda no Are.

"Marama, huh? I _might_ have read that one somewhere before..." While Kosuzu did not share Akyuu's near photographic memory, hers was still quite good. She was certain the name had popped up in one of her books somewhere. "I'll go take a look, I think I might be able to find it for you."

"Just one last thing," Akyuu added as an afterthought, not even looking up from the desk this time. "Look for anything in regards to Lilith Maestra or her siblings, too."

"That succubus who tried to steal all the souls in the village? Didn't Reimu say she was new to Gensokyo?" Akyuu remained silent. Kosuzu knew better at this point than to try and push the subject, curious as she was. Rumia, Lilith Maestra, Garnet Ferre, and someone of the surname 'Marama'. What _was_ the connection between them?

With that question still drifting through Kosuzu's mind, she returned to her back room, where she still kept her most secret and dangerous books. The Necronomicon itself sat alone atop a small side table, as of yet untouched since she'd taken it out of storage. The book was ancient for sure, older than even Akyuu's first incarnation, and she doubted that Rumia would be mentioned within its page, let alone Lilith, who Kosuzu believed to be somewhat young by youkai standards, given her rather recent appearance. Yet _maybe_ she'd find something about this mysterious Garnet Ferre, who she'd never heard of before.

Kosuzu's curiosity had gotten the better of her, and she couldn't help but take that ancient book from its place and begin paging through it. The book was as infuriating as ever, she found. Most of what she _could_ make out was either utterly uninteresting (in the case of some in-depth analyses of human-youkai relations of ancient times), or just completely nonsensical (countless prophecies of how the universe would end, many of which had apparently already come to pass: including one that detailed the destruction of the Hieda line and how it had apparently ended the world). As was the case with most demon books, there _were_ documentations of ancient youkai, just waiting to be revived. Kosuzu was careful to avoid any of _those_ segments. But as always, trying to decipher _anything_ in that insufferable Necronomicon gave her an incredible headache.

With Lilith in mind, Kosuzu _did_ come across a new verse that she was able to translate. Not quite a prophecy of sorts, but something along the lines of an excerpt from a youkai fable: _"... born of sin, the mother of all succubi and demons ... the first child of the world, daughter of Eve, born in her image, and she would become the queen of all succubi, subservient to neither her creator nor the dragon ..."_ Kosuzu noted that the text which loosely translated to 'demon' could have possibly been interchangeable with the translation for 'youkai'. The name Eve was clear, though perhaps a stand-in for something else. Kosuzu thought perhaps that it correlated to the Hebrew myth of Adam and Eve, and in certain texts that mentioned Lilith as the first wife of Adam, who would later become the mother of all demons. But in the text she'd managed to decipher, the roles seemed to have been somewhat reversed if Lilith was this supposed 'daughter of Eve, queen of succubi'. Nothing _else_ in that infuriating book made any sense anyway, so why should some weird youkai fable be any different?

Kosuzu set the Necronomicon aside. She'd already developed a near splitting headache from what little she'd managed to translate, and wasn't about to continue when she suspected that she'd only find more nonsense. Instead, she picked out another demon book from her collection, a small one with a _known_ youkai author, an ancient youkai seeress from several thousand years in the past, of the surname Shikon, who had been born with the ability to prophecise the future.

Kosuzu flipped open the book, and found that it was _much_ easier to decipher than the Necronomicon, and was written in a language common among demon books. Also unlike the Necronomicon, she found that its predictions were actually _reliable._ There were vague allusions to the Lunar War, prophesizing that Yukari's youkai army would be defeated at the hand of the Lunarians (though Yukari was not mentioned by name), as well as other events of some historical significance. The book as a whole hadn't interested Kosuzu much in the past, as it read almost like a very vague history book. It was rather eerie just how accurate most of the predictions had been. There were, of course, ones that Kosuzu had no way of confirming the truth of, but she had no doubt that their events had come to pass as well at some point.

It was a single prophecy that stood out to Kosuzu now, one of those ones that she had not given any thought to in the past. The moment she'd read it, she knew it was exactly the sort of thing she'd been hoping to find.

"Akyuu!" Kosuzu called out, darting back into the library's main room with the book of prophecies in hand. "Akyuu, I think I might have found something!"

Akyuu glanced back up from the book she'd been reading through, an enormous book detailing the known gods of the world, both past and current, and gave Kosuzu a mildly curious look. In that moment, Kosuzu realized just how heavily this was weighing on Akyuu's mind. Just in the past day, she seemed as if she'd aged ten years. "Really? What is it?"

Kosuzu had been too excited by what she'd found, she somehow _knew_ it was exactly what Akyuu had been looking for, to spend too much time fretting over what was potentially aching her friend's mind. "Look here!" Kosuzu said, placing the book down on top of the page Akyuu had been glancing down at. "This line, right here!"

Akyuu glanced down at the line of text Kosuzu was pointing to, and stared at it for a moment with a blank expression. She turned then to Kosuzu, and said, "Kosuzu, you know I can't actually read this, right?"

"Oh! Eheh, right... sorry about that!" In her excitement, Kosuzu had almost forgotten that she'd found the old prophecy in an ancient demon book, something only she would have been able to read. "It's a compilation of prophecies from an ancient youkai with the ability to foresee the future. But there's one in particular I found, this one here: _'The resurgence of darkness shall come herald by the child of the moon. It shall sleep for a thousand years, until the light is born of the avatar of the sun. The darkness shall return to cover the Earth, and draw the creeping emptiness'"_

Akyuu pondered this for a moment, as a realization slowly dawned upon her. For the first time since she'd begun her research, Kosuzu could actually see her friend's usual self in that look. _"'It shall sleep for a thousand years, until the light is born of the avatar of the sun,'"_ Akyuu repeated, as she realized the same thing that Kosuzu had. "Yukari said that Rumia first appeared in Gensokyo about a thousand years ago, after the Lunar War. Then Yukari sealed her powers away, and they were only just recently awoken."

"Exactly! And the part about the light being born, do you think maybe that has something to do with Miasma's sister, Hana?" Though Kosuzu hadn't actually _met_ Hana, she had read Aya's article on the two sisters that had been published a few days before Rumia's first attacks. Although she had in fact met Miasma at least once before, during the meeting at the shrine.

"Hana's parents are Utsuho Reiuji, a hell raven with powers of nuclear fusion, who ate the Yatagarasu, an avatar of the _Sun Goddess_ Amaterasu," Kosuzu nodded her head excitedly, listening intently as all the pieces fell into place, "... and Yuuka Kazami, the flower youkai who lives at Mugenkan, and frequents the Garden of the _Sun_... Everything fits perfectly."

"The only parts I don't get are the part about the darkness being born of the moon, and the part at the end, about the creeping emptiness," Kosuzu said, pointing out the lines in the text (which only she could read anyway, making it a pointless gesture) that she referred to.

Akyuu lightly smacked her own forehead with the base of her palm. "Of _course!_ How could I be so stupid?" Akyuu pushed Kosuzu's book aside, and began flipping through the listings of gods and goddesses throughout history once more, as she searched for a particular category. "You remember what I said that day, back at the Hakurei Shrine, about Rumia's powers being linked to the phase of the moon? I never made the connection before, until just now."

When Akyuu seemed to reach the page she was searching for, she stopped and gestured at the other books that had begun to collect around her. "I had heard the name 'Marama' before, in one of my earliest lives. I just couldn't remember who I had associated it with at the time. My memories of events not _specifically_ relating to the Gensokyo Chronicle are a bit unclear. I felt like it had to be some youkai or goddess of some significance, and that's what I was searching for." Akyuu then pointed down at the page she had flipped to, and Kosuzu noticed with some interest just what was there. A brief list of known gods and goddesses of the moon, among them included Lord Tsukuyomi himself, the founder of Lunarian society. Further down the list, with barely more than a brief description, was an account of a moon goddess by the name of Selena Marama, whose last documented encounter had been in an area of Japan not far from what would eventually become Gensokyo, at least 1500 years in the past.

"So, this moon goddess, Selena Marama..." Kosuzu said, reading the brief description that had been provided. The most agreed upon appearance for the goddess was of a blonde-haired woman most commonly dressed in red. "You think that she was Rumia's mother?"

"Not _only_ do I believe that she was Rumia's mother," Akyuu replied, flipping over to the next page of the book, which listed further moon deities from societies all around the world, most of whom Kosuzu had never even heard of, "I also believe that she was _most_ of these other gods and goddesses. If not _all_ of them, aside from Tsukuyomi. But most importantly, I believe that Rumia _killed_ Selena at some point shortly after her birth."

Kosuzu clasped her hand to her mouth in shock, and looking down at the pages, she could see just how Akyuu had jumped to that conclusion. "All of these gods and goddesses... no one has seen _any_ of them in over a thousand years!"

"Exactly," Akyuu said, as she slammed the book shut with a heavy-sounding thud. The two sat silently in the library for a time, Kosuzu trying to process everything she'd just learned, and Akyuu seemingly in deep thought over some unspoken dilemma. Finally, Akyuu _did_ speak up, though she seemed to be mostly thinking aloud. "I need to tell Reimu."

"Oh! Oh, can I come too, Akyuu?" Kosuzu asked enthusiastically, clutching her demon book of prophecies in her arms. She'd never dreamed she would ever get involved in an incident quite so big, not in all her life. And although Rumia frightened her, as did anything to do with her, really, she was still excited beyond belief. "I'm the one who found the book, and the prophecy, so I want to be there to tell her."

Akyuu looked at the book still held in Kosuzu's arms, and then closed her eyes. Once again, she seemed on the verge of divulging whatever secret she kept, the thing that had been bothering her ever since that mysterious absence of hers. Kosuzu could tell that whatever it was, it was _big._

Finally, Akyuu relented. "Before we go... there's a secret I have to tell you. And you can't tell _anyone_ a word of it."


	3. Chapter 3: Reimu (I)

**Chapter 3: Reimu (I)**

* * *

The day that had passed since The Voidborn had restored Gensokyo felt like the longest day of Reimu's entire life. The conflicting memories that battled in her mind had eventually begun to settle themselves, yet she still had trouble overcoming the sensation that time had essentially folded in on itself and doubled. For that, she envied Marisa, who did not have to share that feeling.

"Still, Reimu... that's quite the story you've got there," Marisa said, in response to Reimu's retelling of what she believed to be the _true_ series of events that had transpired recently. "I mean, you gotta admit, it sounds pretty damn crazy. How do I know ya aren't just pullin' my leg on this one?"

"Marisa. Have I ever lied to you about anything this serious before?" Reimu turned toward Marisa, just as the two touched down on the ground in front of the Hakurei Shrine. It only took that one look at her for Marisa to realize that Reimu was telling the truth. Or at least, she _thought_ she was telling the truth. It seemed that without someone to corroborate her story, it was the best that Reimu could hope for. "You're my best friend, Marisa, and I wanted to tell you first. That's why I came to tell you, the first thing this morning."

"And... you haven't told anyone _else_ this crazy story yet, have you?" Reimu could tell from the tone of Marisa's voice that she'd begun to actually question Reimu's sanity. In some ways, Reimu wondered about that herself.

"No, not yet. But I wanted to tell everyone who was with us in Makai, when we fought against Rumia two days ago." It really had seemed so weird to Reimu how well she could remember both versions of events. It was almost frightening, in fact. "That would include Alice, Miasma, Youmu, and Sanae."

"What about Sakuya? She was there too, don't ya remember?"

"Sakuya was here at the shrine, when The Voidborn restored us all. She already knows," Reimu clarified, as she stared down the shrine's pathway. She happened to be standing in the very spot where she'd been returned to Gensokyo the day before, the exact moment when her memory had doubled up on itself. "Yukari and Akyuu both know too, but I doubt they're going to tell anyone. This is supposed to be kind of a secret, okay?"

"Weird bunch of people to pick, to remember something like that. Dunno why she wouldn't pick me too, since I help Gensokyo about as much as you do, ze.~" Marisa grinned, but when she saw Reimu staring off into the distance, the expression faded and Marisa shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever, I'm headin' inside. Hope ya don't mind me swipin' some food before I go."

"Yeah, fine," Reimu replied, rather absentmindedly. She remained in her dazed state, still processing everything that had happened in Gensokyo recently, for only a few more seconds, when a loud cry of shock from Marisa caught her attention. _Shit...! It can't be Rumia again, can it?_ Reimu thought to herself, as she quickly turned to run to Marisa's aid.

It wasn't Rumia at all that Reimu found inside of the shrine, and Marisa had not cried out in fear, merely surprise (much to Reimu's relief), but who she _had_ met inside wasn't much better than Rumia herself. Someone Reimu hadn't seen in over ten years. "M... Mima...!?"

"Well, it really _has_ been a long time, hasn't it Reimu?" Mima, the evil spirit who had been the bane of Reimu's existence for much of her young life, now hovered in the main room of the Hakurei Shrine. The last Reimu had seen of her had been shortly after her _first_ visit to Makai over ten years prior, when she'd first met Shinki. Reimu had later heard that both Yuuka and Mima had entered Makai shortly after her own visit, and the two had together destroyed much of Makai's population before becoming bored. The last that Reimu could recall, she had last seen Mima during one of her routine haunts of the shrine, and she had apparently considered becoming a god herself. Since then, she hadn't seen Mima once.

"Whoa...! Lady Mima, when did you come back to Gensokyo!?" Marisa asked, jumping forward to the center of the room. Reimu could easily see the admiration in Marisa's eyes, remembering that Mima was the one who had taught Marisa how to use magic in the first place, back when they were just kids. Reimu wasn't nearly so eager to see _her_ back in Gensokyo, though.

"Oh, just today, actually," Mima said, and it was all she _would_ say on the matter. She stared down at both Reimu and Marisa, taking in the changes that the two had undergone since she'd last seen them, and she had to stifle back laughter. "I thought you would've grown up to be taller, Marisa." Mima's laughter caused Marisa to frown slightly. "And _you,_ Reimu... you let this place turn to an even bigger dump than it was when I left!"

Admittedly, Reimu couldn't deny the shoddy state that her shrine was in. She hadn't had the time to repair the damages done in the first battle against Rumia and Kana. But _Mima_ didn't know that, not if she really had just returned to Gensokyo, and the mocking tone stung all the same. "What the hell do you _want,_ Mima? And why did you have to show back up _now_ of all times?"

"Speaking of, where were you all this time, anyway?" Marisa added onto Reimu's own list of questions, though they both certainly suspected that Mima had been off somewhere in the Outside World, up until recently.

"That's none of your business, really," Mima replied, using this as her answer to both of the girls' questions. "I was searching for something in the Outside World." Reimu could feel her own anger starting to boil up inside of her. It really was just one nuisance after another these days, wasn't it? She was even about to voice this with Mima, fully prepared to go on an anger-fueled rant at the ghostly woman, before Mima spoke out yet again. "Tell me. What has happened in Gensokyo since I was here last? I feel that things are... different, somehow."

"You expect me to just tell you _everything,_ while you're just going to float there, and not give us _any_ explanation about where you've been, and why you came back?" Reimu balled her hands into fists, and contemplated reaching toward some of her concealed sealing talismans. She could never manage to seal Mima, at least not for very long, when she was younger. But she had gained a lot of experience since Mima had last seen her, and Reimu felt that if it were to come to a fight, she would have the distinct advantage for once. (How powerful could Mima even be if Reimu had been able to hold her own when she was only about 10 years old, after all?) With everything that had happened recently, and with all the mental stress she was under as a result of The Voidborn's meddling with the timeline, Reimu was almost itching for a fight.

"Calm down, Reimu. I don't really feel like fighting you today, and I'm not here to cause trouble." Reimu didn't particularly believe that last comment, but she unclenched her hands all the same. "As for _why_ I came back, there isn't really a reason. I concluded my business in the Outside World, and I simply decided to come back. Now, are you going to tell me what has happened in the last ten years, or not?"

"Well, up until _really_ recently, I don't think you missed anything hugely big," Marisa said, before Reimu could even add her own take on the matter. She wasn't even sure if she _wanted_ to tell Mima anything yet, but she supposed that Marisa would've told her if Reimu wouldn't. Marisa did, after all, still look up to Mima as her mentor. Even if Mima _was_ a troublemaker. "Before that though, it was fairly typical stuff. You know, people stealing spring, eternal nights, geysers and hot springs randomly popping up, that sorta thing."

"Marisa, I don't think _any_ of that sounds very typical," Mima said, but Reimu could at least understand where Marisa was coming from. Things _had_ changed since Mima left Gensokyo, particularly with Reimu's own introduction of the spell card rules shortly after Mima's departure. She and Marisa both were simply just accustomed to the sorts of strange incidents that occurred on a frequent basis in Gensokyo. "Fine, just tell me everything, starting from the time I left, if you don't mind."

It hadn't been the first time that Reimu and Marisa had given an overview of their most famous incidents to someone who had otherwise been left out of the loop. After all, they had done the same with Miasma, only just over the most recent summer. They had started with the scarlet mist incident, and gave Mima a brief overview of spell card rules in case she _did_ get herself into any fights, covering the most major details up to the more recent incidents, including the one caused by powers of the Miracle Mallet. It was only when Reimu came close to explaining everything that Rumia had caused that she became hesitant to continue. She was particularly wary about divulging any information relating to The Voidborn.

She had just finished touching on the subject of Kana's most recent possession of the shrine, the one that had preceded Rumia's first appearance following the removal of her seal. "So _Kana_ possessed your shrine? Sure she _seemed_ strong, for a poltergeist anyway, but I can't believe you wouldn't be able to exorcise her properly after all these years. That's like Shrine Maiden 101 right there."

"Yeah, well. I don't think Kana's a _normal_ poltergeist, exactly," Reimu said, as she finally decided to approach the subject that Mima would _really_ want to know, and the one that Reimu was most hesitant to tell. At least, she told herself, she wouldn't have to mention The Voidborn at all. She could simply cover the events that everyone in Gensokyo, Marisa included, had remembered.

Almost as if on cue, Reimu could hear her name being called out from the shrine's path outside, and she turned to see just who was approaching _now._ Coming up the path were Akyuu and Kosuzu, the latter of whom being the one who had called out, and who also seemed to be carrying one of those demon books from her library. Reimu only suspected it meant more trouble, but on the contrary, Kosuzu seemed particularly excited. "Hey, Reimu!"

"Oh... hey Kosuzu, hey Akyuu." Reimu only barely acknowledged the two, before her gaze shifted back toward Mima. The spirit woman barely seemed interested in these newest arrivals, and only seemed to be waiting for Reimu and Marisa to continue where they had left off. Reimu hoped that whatever they wanted wouldn't take long. She'd rather finish telling Mima what she wanted to hear so she would just _leave_ already. "You two don't usually come out all this way. What's up?"

"We found something today that Akyuu thinks you really need to hear." Kosuzu held up the demon book in her arms as she spoke, indicating her discovery. When she noticed Mima, however, her expression became almost awe-struck. "Who's this, Reimu?"

 _"I_ am Mima, the evil spirit of the Hakurei Shrine, and the greatest magician in Gensokyo.~" Mima said, gesturing proudly at herself with a smug grin.

"Don't associate yourself with my shrine!" Reimu blurted out.

"I've never heard of you before, though," Kosuzu said, much to Mima's shock.

"I've heard of her, but I didn't document her into the Gensokyo Chronicle," Akyuu said, now eying Mima more warily than she had been previously. "Reimu, I thought you said that Mima left Gensokyo over a decade ago?"

"She _did_ leave," Reimu said, shooting a glare back at Mima. "She just showed up here in the shrine today when I came home."

"As much as I would _love_ to enlighten you both on the subject of my history with Reimu, you happen to be interrupting our little discussion," Mima said with some impatience. "If you aren't going to tell me, I'm sure Marisa would be delighted to tell me _everything_ I want to know." The way that Mima grinned suggested that she knew that Reimu was keeping _something_ secret from her. And she also suspected that Mima could very easily persuade Marisa to tell her everything, and that included everything that Reimu had told her that morning.

"Fine. I'll tell you, Mima," Reimu replied irritably. That satisfied grin on Mima's face didn't make matters any better, either. "I told you that I managed to exorcise Kana from my shrine again, before Akyuu and Kosuzu showed up. But that turned out to only be the start of the _real_ trouble."

"Are you telling her about everything that's happened over the last couple days?" Akyuu asked, and Reimu nodded in confirmation. "Our news can wait, then. I wanted to hear a complete account of what happened in Makai, anyway." Mima raised an eyebrow upon hearing mention of Makai, but said nothing.

"Well, what happened, was that Kana apparently snuck off somewhere and met up with this crazy darkness youkai, Rumia," Marisa picked up from where Reimu had left off, taking her part in explaining the story to her former mentor. "And the two ended up overthrowin' Shinki, and takin' over all of Makai!"

"Now, wait just a moment." Mima raised her hand, silencing Marisa immediately. "You said Kana, a _poltergeist_ of all things, teamed up with _Rumia,_ and they took over all of Makai? I encountered Rumia at least once before I left Gensokyo, and she was a terribly weak youkai. Especially by Gensokyo standards. Kana may have been powerful when I met her, at least by poltergeist standards, but I hardly think she'd be powerful enough to take over Makai. I don't believe a word of that."

"Believe what you want, Mima. It happened." Reimu wasn't about to put up with Mima's disbelief. If she wanted to hear the story, she'd have to learn to keep her mouth shut. "The ribbon in Rumia's hair was apparently a seal on her powers, put in place by Yukari a thousand years ago, in order to prevent her from going on a rampage. But Shinki took the ribbon off, not knowing what would happen."

"Now _that_ I can believe, that the Makai goddess would do something so reckless," Mima commented briefly, before allowing Reimu to continue.

"After that happened, Rumia and Kana came back to Gensokyo, and went on a rampage. They killed a large number of people, including Miko, who I just told you about, and eventually we managed to draw them out." Reimu pointed back at the hole in the wall where Rumia had crashed through during that first fight. "The two of them nearly destroyed my shrine that night, but we drove them back off into Makai."

"After that, Yukari dropped a bunch of us off into Makai to finish the job. And Kana turned Shinki's whole fortress into this crazy, twisted gauntlet that she tried to make us run through!" Marisa resumed the story, starting off with what Reimu now knew to be the _alternate_ history of events. "The whole place was basically this big death trap. But me and Miasma, she's another friend of ours, we managed to bust through the wall of the fortress and escape."

"Youmu and Sanae stayed behind to take care of Kana," Reimu said, with the memories of that timeline of events taking frontal focus in her mind. She found that if she tried to focus on one version of events, the other would quiet itself in her mind for a time. "The rest of us, Marisa, Sakuya, Alice, Miasma, and myself, all went on ahead to confront Rumia."

* * *

 **\- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o -**

* * *

Reimu couldn't help but feel amazed, watching Marisa and Miasma crash through the strongest barrier that Pandaemonium had in its defenses. Especially for someone so young, Miasma was frighteningly strong, despite her magical ineptitude. Reimu doubted that even Yuuka could have broken through those throne room doors.

Alice was the first to follow Marisa and Miasma into the throne room, while Reimu stayed back for a moment to stare back at the collapsed exit on the second level through which they had escaped. She'd have no way of knowing how Youmu and Sanae would fare alone against Kana, and she was horrified to think too strongly on the subject. She remembered her own fight with Kana the night before, and how she'd nearly been killed before Marisa and Alice had come to their aid.

Reimu shook her head, telling herself to hope for the best, that those two could handle Kana. Fighting spiritual beings like ghosts and poltergeists was Youmu's specialty, after all. With this in mind, her fears somewhat alleviated, Reimu followed Sakuya down to the throne room, where Rumia no doubt waited inside.

A haze of crystal dust hung in the air, uplifted by the destruction of Pandaemonium's last line of defense, mildly obscuring their vision. It was the first time Reimu had actually seen Makai's throne room (her battle against Shinki had taken place atop Pandaemonium's roof), and its size was certainly befitting of everything she'd come to expect. The ceiling itself was even higher than it had been on the first floor, and there were still many remnants of the ornate decorations that had once lined its walls. Most of these, however, had been either destroyed or modified on Kana's whims.

"Well, well. I had a feeling you'd all be showing up right about now." Rumia's voice echoed through the massive throne room that she had now claimed as her own. As the dense crystal dust settled to the floor, and the visibility cleared, Reimu could see Rumia perched atop a tall crystal throne at the back end of the room, a jagged and mangled thing that bore no resemblance to Shinki's original creation. Rumia sat lazily across it, legs draped over the side as if she'd been napping in that position while she awaited their arrival. "I knew that eventually one of you would get fed up with Kana's little game, and try breaking down the door." Rumia grinned a particularly hateful snarl down at Miasma. "Should've known it would be the temperamental little brat. Guess that means I win the bet, Kana thought it was going to be Alice.~"

"Is this some kind of _game_ to the both of you!?" Alice shouted in response at Rumia. Reimu could sense the anger seething out from the woman's normally calm exterior, and she couldn't help but wonder if Alice would be able to control herself. "You destroy my home, turn my mother's fortress into some kind of... savage labyrinth, and then you start making _bets_ on us!?"

"This _is_ just a game to me," Rumia said, with remarkable disinterest in her tone. "I thought that after a thousand years, there might be _someone_ in Gensokyo worth my time. But none of you would even stand a chance against me on your own." Rumia sighed with exasperation, as she propped herself into an upright position on her twisted throne. "It wouldn't be a fair fight, or even _interesting_ to me, if I just picked you off one by one."

Reimu suspected that to some degree, Rumia was right. They'd managed to hurt Rumia once, but she had let her guard down against Miasma, and Alice had taken her by surprise. Reimu hadn't forgotten the wounds that Rumia had suffered only the night before, the beating she'd taken from the few blows Miasma had managed to connect with, but there was no sign of injury on her now. She certainly recovered quickly. Reimu had hoped that striking back quickly was their best option, to catch Rumia at her weakest, but it seemed that it had been a rather pointless effort.

"Kana's not gonna save ya this time, Rumia," Marisa said, swinging off her broom and pointing it at the darkness youkai. "It's five against one. Don't think you can beat all of us, ze.~"

"We're on _my_ turf now, Marisa," Rumia flashed the witch a hungry-looking grin, showing off her pointed teeth. "I've grown accustomed to Makai's magic-enriched atmosphere, and I'm more powerful than I was in Gensokyo. More than you could ever imagine."

"You're still outnumbered, Rumia. And _our_ magic is enhanced by Makai's atmosphere as well," Reimu said, snatching up several sealing talismans from within her sleeve. As she channeled her energy through them, they glowed faintly, empowered by the enriched air of Makai.

"I doubt you forgot what I did to you _last_ time, either," Miasma said, slamming one first into the palm of her other hand.

"Oh, no. I didn't forget. I didn't forget a _damn thing."_ Rumia snarled, and stood up on her throne. "In fact, I have a _special_ surprise for you, you uppity little shit." Rumia seemed particularly proud of whatever it was she had in store, yet what she'd done only disgusted Reimu and everyone else that witnessed it.

Darkness gathered in Rumia's palm, growing in size and eventually taking physical shape, a humanoid shape. Miasma's eyes opened wide in horror, a hand clutched over her gaping mouth, as she realized what Rumia had done. Medicine Melancholy's corpse, that of Miasma's own mother, hung limp by the neck in Rumia's grip. She had been impaled through the chest by Rumia's sword, and newly dry blood (if Reimu could even call it that; it was so dark that it was nearly black) stained what remained of Medicine's tattered clothes. Reimu took notice of a deep scar running down along the side of Medicine's face, from a wound that seemed too old to have been inflicted by Rumia, yet she was certain it hadn't been there the last time she'd seen Medicine (which, admittedly, hadn't been since before she'd met Miasma).

"The little bitch hardly put up a fight. It was almost sad, really. It was as if she didn't even care.~" Rumia tossed the doll youkai's corpse down onto the floor in an ungraceful heap. "I felt sick just hanging around the pathetic thing. No _wonder_ you left. I did you a favor, I think. Now you never have to worry about this piece of garbage hanging over your head."

"Shut up! Just shut up!" Miasma shouted, and she stomped a foot against the floor, causing the room to shake faintly. Tears streamed down Miasma's face, but her expression showed little sadness. Only fury, all of it directed at Rumia. It seemed that Miasma and Alice shared that in common. "You had no right at all! Even if things... were bad between us... you've ruined any chance of ever putting things right!"

"Oh _boo hoo._ Cry some more, you big fucking baby. See if I give a shit." Rumia's cruelty seemed to have no end, and had Reimu been in Miasma's position, she no doubt would've reacted similarly. With a scream of rage, Miasma leaped forward, prepared to smash Rumia into oblivion if given the opportunity, without any regard to her own safety.

"Miasma, wait...!" Reimu heard Marisa shout from nearby, but she knew it would do no good. In some ways, Reimu shared Miasma's anger, and knew nothing would be able to talk her down.

"Pitiful," Rumia uttered with a sigh. Miasma never even came close to laying a finger on the darkness youkai. Without moving even a muscle, a swirling barrier of dark energy materialized between Miasma and her target, trapping the young youkai girl within its grasp. Reimu could hear Miasma's gasps of pain as the darkness constricted, and Rumia merely laughed. "Learn some self-restraint, you little brat, and just _maybe_ you'd have lived to see my next surprise. Unfortunately, I think you've just about worn out the last of my patience." Several shadowy spikes emerged out from the floor beneath Miasma, and the darkness that held her began to writhe around its prisoner. "So long, brat.~ It's about time I repay you for last night."

The darkness that held Miasma released her at that moment (more like threw her, really), sending her plummeting down toward the jagged, deadly spikes that protruded beneath her. She never would've had the time to react and fly to safety, not at the speed at which she'd been thrown down, and Reimu knew she'd never reach Miasma in time. But to her relief, it was Sakuya who had. In one instant, Miasma was dropping toward the floor, and in the next, she was gone, held instead by Sakuya nearby. "Are you alright, Miasma?" she asked, and Miasma nodded, but it was clear that the younger girl's anger had not dissipated even in light of her near death experience.

The triumphant grin on Rumia's face only gave a slight twitch to indicate her disappointment, before spreading even wider across her lips. "Just as well, then. I would've been a little disappointed if you lot didn't give me _some_ sort of fight."

"Just what are you playing at, Rumia?" Reimu asked, trying to remain as calm as she could manage. Her expression was stern, but she showed no indication of the emotion beneath it. With Miasma and Alice no doubt both emotionally compromised, Reimu would have to maintain her composure. "What _next surprise_ are you talking about?"

"Where's my mother, Rumia?" Alice asked suddenly, in a surprisingly quiet manner. Reimu could see the fear in her eyes, wondering if perhaps Rumia had done to Shinki what she'd likewise done to Medicine.

"Oh, she's around," Rumia said rather casually, with no more than a dismissive wave of her hand. Seemingly catching on to what Alice suspected, she continued, "She's not _dead._ Not yet, anyway, if that's what you're so terrified of. No, I have an entirely different surprise in mind. And I just hope that most of you are still around to see it." Reimu had no doubt that any amount of further questioning would yield no better results, and so she kept her silence.

Alice at least seemed to be relieved to hear that Shinki was still alive, for the moment anyway, but that did not cause her hatred to subside any. Reimu supposed that it was a good thing, if it meant Alice would fight seriously. She noticed that Alice had taken her grimoire, a powerful spell book that Reimu had only seen her use once, many years ago.

 _(At this point in Reimu's story, Kosuzu expressed a clear interest in wanting to see Alice's grimoire, as it was no doubt a demon book very like the ones she owned, and no doubt most similar to the ones she had encountered in Patchouli's library._

 _(Her interruption had been met with a rather stern look from Reimu, who had never quite approved of Kosuzu's collection, as she thought it to be a rather dangerous hobby.)_

If Alice intended to use her grimoire for the first time in more than ten years (and probably for only the second time ever), Reimu knew that she had every intention of wiping Rumia from the face of the Earth even at the cost of her own life. Magic of that level, which had been locked away in that grimoire for good reason, took its toll on those who wielded it.

"Well.~" Rumia broke the silence that had fallen upon the throne room with a clap of her hands. "That doll proved to be entirely inedible. And with that succubus _whore_ stealing my food, I've grown ravenous with hunger." Rumia licked her lips as she surveyed the five that stood below her. "Now, I wonder who should be my next meal... I don't suppose I have any volunteers~?"

Tensions rose between Rumia and her five pursuers in the silence that followed. No one had been sure who should make the first strike against Rumia, and of course, no one would've _actually_ volunteered to become Rumia's dinner. It was Marisa who finally got fed up with the uneasy atmosphere that had fallen upon them. She kicked off the floor, swinging her broom back down to propel herself upward. "You aren't gonna be eatin' _anyone_ today, Rumia!" Marisa declared, as she produced her mini-hakkero and aimed it at Rumia. With her other arm, she waved outward, producing a large number of star-shaped danmaku shots that rapidly approached their target. Reimu had to take a moment to marvel at just how powerful Marisa's attacks appeared to be in that brief moment, amplified by the magic enriched atmosphere of Makai.

It was an advantage, however, that was shared by Rumia as well. She vanished like a puff of black smoke before any of Marisa's attacks had even come close. _"Sounds like we have a volunteer,"_ Rumia's voice echoed from every direction, issuing from seemingly every shadow within the room at once.

"Marisa, behind you!" Alice shouted, raising up a wall of her dolls to begin her strategic maneuvers. Of these, she issued two of them to fly, lances aimed and ready, seemingly directly toward Marisa.

The witch panicked, momentarily thinking that Alice had turned on her, and she ducked down, clutching her broom. She swung around until she was hanging upside-down from it, while Alice's dolls flew overhead. She heard a grunt of minor pain from above her head, followed by the sight of one of the dolls being flung to the side in two halves. Looking back up, she was met with the sight of Rumia, half-materialized from the shadows where Marisa had been only seconds before, sword in hand, and one miniature lance lodged into her shoulder.

"You and your worthless toys," Rumia grunted out, as she tore the lance from her shoulder, splattering a tiny bit of blood onto Marisa, who for the moment seemed to have gone momentarily unnoticed. Reimu and Sakuya, who flew up to catch Rumia's attention, both saw to that. "You wouldn't be the first _dog_ I've defeated in this very room, Sakuya. You should go back to your mistress with your tail between your legs, before she has to find herself a new bitch."

Sakuya held several knives in her hand, and flung each of them at Rumia. In the moment that she caused time to stand still, the number of them had doubled, and then doubled yet again, until there were more than a dozen in all. Mixed in with them, however, hidden beneath the knives themselves, were several of Reimu's sealing charms, cleverly disguised. Rumia would've only then noticed that Reimu and Sakuya had joined hands before launching their attacks, freeing Reimu temporarily from Sakuya's time-stopping abilities. Yet Rumia figured herself far too clever to be so easily outsmarted. Not one of the projectiles even met their target, before they seemed to freeze in place mere inches from Rumia's body, bound only by the very shadows that they produced.

"You'll both have to do better than _that_ if you want to stop me." Rumia touched one of the frozen knives, and it immediately dropped to the floor with a metallic ring. "My own abilities are stronger here than you could ever believe, little dog and shrine bitch. But I'll admit, it _was_ a moderately clever trick."

Reimu grinned, and it served to only piss Rumia off more. _Perfect,_ Reimu thought to herself. "We weren't _trying_ to hit you, Rumia."

"What-?" Rumia uttered, before her eyes opened wide in shock. Her gaze trailed down to stare down at Marisa, still hanging upside-down from her broom, who she had completely forgotten about for that short moment. Rumia's eyes fell upon the mini-hakkero Marisa held, which was crackling with hot energy.

"Eat this, Rumia!" Marisa shouted, as the light of her mini-hakkero began to burn bright. "Love Sign: Master Spark!"

A bright flash illuminated the immediate vicinity as the blast of energy shot out toward Rumia. The youkai only had an instant to react, and she jumped back to avoid the worst of the blow, which only singed her front. Irritating, no doubt, but not especially troublesome. It was only what happened afterward that sent Rumia into a vulgar rage. With the light of Marisa's Master Spark brightening the room, the shadows that had bound Sakuya's knives and Reimu's charms were no more. While Reimu's charms were incinerated by the heat of Marisa's attacks, Sakuya's knives remained unaffected, and connected with their target easily enough. Rumia bellowed several inarticulate screeches of rage as the blades pierced her skin, as well as numerous obscenities that Reimu would later leave out of her retelling of the battle.

"You think you're just _so_ fucking smart, don't you!?" Rumia shouted as she ripped the knives from her body, and disintegrated each one of them into the darkness as she did so ( _seemed she was smart enough to realize that Sakuya would've just picked them back up later, otherwise,_ Reimu mentioned).

Rumia was cut off from speaking once more by the sight of another wave of Alice's dolls flying in her direction. With her shadowy blade still clutched in her hand, Rumia swung at the dolls, slicing each of them in half. The grin on Rumia's face was short-lived, however, as each of the dolls exploded mere seconds after having been cut open, and the darkness youkai was lost in the flames and smoke that were created. When it had cleared, Rumia was gone, vanished back into the darkness.

"You can't win, Rumia! You can't keep track of all of us at once!" Alice declared, her eyes shifting carefully through the room, searching for any sign of Rumia. She had noticed the swirling darkness behind Marisa earlier, and had saved her life accordingly. Unnoticed by Rumia, she had stationed her dolls at regular intervals along the walls of the room, and had prepared herself for nearly any situation.

"You can't hide forever, either. You'll have to show yourself eventually, or else you'll never be rid of us," Reimu said, as she touched down to the ground not far from Alice.

 _"Is that right~?"_ Rumia's mocking voice echoed from the shadows once again, and it was followed by a ringing, unpleasant laughter. _"What's to stop me from, say... returning to Gensokyo right now? I could kill anyone I felt like, perhaps another family member of the brat, that dog's mistress, or maybe just a close friend of one of you~? All while you stand around here, like a group of gaping idiots, just_ waiting _for me to show my face again."_

"I don't think that you're a coward, Rumia," Reimu said, and of this, she seemed certain. "Everyone that you've killed so far... has been to either develop your power, or to antagonize us into confronting you directly. As we have, right now." Reimu paused, and looked around the room, yet still there was no sign of Rumia. Nor did the dark youkai reply. But Reimu could sense that she was listening, she _knew_ that Rumia was listening. "All of us are here, Rumia. You _wanted_ a fight like this all along, didn't you? What's the point of all that power if you never have a chance to _really_ put it to the test?"

 _"You think that I_ won't _do it, Reimu? That I_ won't _just leave right now to do as I please, with Gensokyo defenseless, and pick the rest of you off at my leisure?"_

"I don't think you will, Rumia," Reimu said, with a certain sureness to her voice that made a few of the others rather nervous. "If you leave us with nothing to fight for, we wouldn't be able to fight you at our best. You'd never be able to try out that strength you seem to be so proud of. Just think of how _boring_ that would be."

More silence. For a time, Reimu even suspected that her words had fallen on deaf ears, and that Rumia truly _would_ do as she had suggested. Reimu's fears were put to ease (partially, anyway) when Rumia reappeared from the darkness once more, directly behind Alice this time, with her blade pressed against the doll maker's neck. "You're more persuasive than I ever gave you credit for, Reimu. It's no wonder you've been so good at solving all of those other incidents."

Alice made a move to try and direct her dolls once again, but Rumia seized her wrist with her free arm, and twisted it back, eliciting a sharp cry of anguish from the magician. "None of that, now," Rumia said. She ran her tongue along the back of Alice's neck, causing her to shudder with revulsion, and attempt once more to pull herself free. It merely earned her another harsh tug on her arm, putting a stop to any further escape attempts. "Those dolls of yours are a considerable nuisance. I think I'll kill you first."

"We aren't going to just sit back and let that happen, Rumia!" Miasma called out, and Rumia turned to see the young girl running in her direction. She had snatched up two of Alice's dolls, one in each hand, and had already begun to throw one of them in Rumia's direction.

"I'm not falling for that again, you little shit!" The doll's shadow rose up from the ground to meet it, impaling the doll long before it was even close to its target. As Rumia had suspected, the doll exploded upon impact, but too far from its intended target to do any damage. And yet, there was still one _more_ doll in Miasma's possession. Sneering wickedly, Rumia did the same with the second doll, stabbing at it while it was still in Miasma's hand.

Only it hadn't exploded like the first. At least, not in the way that Rumia had expected. Instead of a burst of flame and smoke, the doll burst into a flash of bright light even more luminous than Marisa's Master Spark, and it blinded Rumia completely. "You fucking cunts! You fucking blinded me!"

Rumia clutched her hands to her eyes, dropping her sword to the floor as she tried to clear her mind of the searing pain that the light had caused her. She couldn't see a damn thing with the light as offensively bright as it was, and she never saw Miasma charging just blindly at her again. Even if she had, without any shadows to retreat into, there was not a thing Rumia would have been able to do in her defense. It was only once the light had begun to fade that Rumia felt Miasma's fist crashing into her chest. A sickeningly loud cracking sound filled the room as the blow connected, and Rumia was flung across it, crashing into the far wall on the opposite side.

When the visibility of the room finally returned to normal, and everyone but Miasma and Alice (who had been aware of what would happen, and had shielded their eyes accordingly) regained their vision again, they finally saw the aftermath of what had just transpired.

 _(Mima took that moment to actually acknowledge and compliment the impromptu teamwork of Miasma and Alice, though in a manner that came across to Reimu as an attempt to insult her_ own _skill in battle. She chose to simply ignore Mima for the time being.)_

Rumia sat slumped against the far wall, looking to be in a rather sorry state. Blood dripped from the corners of the woman's mouth, and had stained the white of her shirt. It quickly became apparent to Reimu just what that sickening sound had been, when her eyes fell upon the one jagged spike of rib that protruded at a disturbing angle from the youkai's mid-section. The bright red spot of blood on her shirt that surrounded it grew steadily, like a rose blooming outward, with that fractured rib as its stem. When Rumia got uneasily to her feet, she coughed dark red blood into a growing puddle on the floor. Reimu knew that if Rumia had been human, she would be either dead or dying at that moment.

When Rumia touched a hand to fractured rib, she flinched with pain, but did not take her hand away. Instead, she grasped her hand around the bloody bone, and jammed it harshly back into her body, aligning it back into its proper place. And still, Rumia _grinned_ at them, her shark-like teeth stained scarlet with her own blood. "That really _hurt,_ you know..." Rumia laughed, but it was a pained, half-insane sound. "Perhaps you were all right... I _am_ outnumbered."

Rumia took one step forward, and everyone else stood at attention once again. Injured or not, Rumia was still dangerous. Perhaps even _more so_ if she had truly gone mad, as her expression and laughter would've suggested. Rumia stumbled, and for a moment, it seemed as if she would fall to the ground right then and there. She kept one hand clutched to her chest, her ribcage shattered no doubt, while the other shakily pointed out toward the five girls from Gensokyo that had caused her so much anguish. "I'm not done _yet_ you stupid fucks. Far from it."

"We will kill you where you stand if you keep this up, Rumia," Reimu said. She glanced around the room, noticing that the majority of Alice's dolls were still in place. She suspected that they could take Rumia alive, if Alice could trap her like last time in the shrine. It would be best, so they would at least be able to find Shinki with Rumia's help and free her, rather than search blindly. Or worse still, finding Shinki trapped in some sort of impenetrable barrier that only Rumia would be able to remove. Yet if Rumia gave them no choice, she would _gladly_ finish her off.

"Will you now...? I'm not sure you have it in you, Reimu," Rumia said, and she licked her blood-stained lips. "But I think it's time that I evened the odds."

"Just what are you talking about, Rumia?" Reimu asked, but was met only with laughter as Rumia flung both arms out in front of her. At first, Reimu was unsure of just what it was that Rumia had done. That was until she felt a pair of hands grasp at her ankles, attempting to hold her in place. She turned away from Rumia, looking down at her feet, only to be met with the sight of her _own_ _shadow_ pulling itself up from the floor. It was a near perfect duplicate of her own body, though lacking any color or the finer details.

Rumia cackled madly from the opposite side of the room, and Reimu noticed that the others were facing a similar dilemma, trying to pull away from their own shadows. "How's that, Reimu!? If I can't take you all out myself, I'll just let your _shadows_ do the work for me!" Rumia lapsed into another coughing fit during her subsequent laughter, and she sprayed more of her own blood onto the floor.

Sakuya and Alice were both quick to try an attempt at finishing Rumia off, launching knives and dolls respectively at the heavily wounded youkai, but their attempts fared no better than their previous ones had. Rumia's _own_ shadow rose to her defense this time, either deflecting the projectiles, or taking them into itself as though it were a sort of living shield. The time they had taken to launch their attacks had also given their shadows a chance to gain the upper-hand, as they wrenched themselves up from the floor completely, and were able to wrestle at Sakuya and Alice and hold them in a vulnerable position.

Marisa was the first to free herself of her shadow's hold, blasting away at it with a few of her star-based danmaku shots and loosening its grip. Marisa took to the air on her broom, but her shadow quickly followed. Even as Marisa sped around the room, firing wave after wave of danmaku at the shadowy replica, her opponent seemed to match her every move, conjuring up pure black copies of her every attack. They found themselves dodging identical patterns of danmaku, in an increasingly frustrating display of futility.

Reimu and Miasma both found themselves in a frustrating situation of their own, each trying to repel their own shadows from fully emerging from the floor as the other three had done. Reimu's sealing charms, what few of them her shadow would allow her the chance to retrieve, seemed to have a moderate effect on repelling whatever dark magic Rumia used to power the shadow's advance. Miasma was not quite so fortunate, as her physical blows seemed to do little more than slow the advance of a creature that seemed to feel no actual pain.

Reimu grunted with irritation, at one point wrenching her arm free of her shadow's grasp, so that she could grasp several more of her most powerful sealing talismans. Her shadow took that moment to pull itself the rest of the way free, grasping onto the shrine maiden's waist for the support needed to finish the job. Clutching one of the charms in her hand, Reimu slammed it forward and stuck it onto her shadow's forehead. Reimu at once muttered a spell under her breath, and the charm began to glow brightly, before exploding with a burst of energy. Reimu felt the shadow's grip on her body loosen, and she jumped free to avoid the blast radius. One look down at the floor after having escaped was all the confirmation she'd needed to know that her plan had worked, and that she'd managed to dispel Rumia's control over her shadow. In fact, it was right back where it should've been all along, clinging flat to the floor where shadows belonged.

Free, and for the moment safe, Reimu glanced back in Rumia's direction. Her escape had not gone unnoticed by the darkness youkai, but it seemed that Rumia did not seem to even _care,_ and was also otherwise preoccupied. Rumia's own shadow had sunk back to the floor, but numerous shadowy tendrils had risen in its place, most of which seemed to be latched onto Rumia's body. It occurred to Reimu that Rumia was using her shadows to try and _mend_ the wounds that Miasma had inflicted, with the shadowy tentacles rearranging and forcing her broken bones back into their proper places, while simultaneously closing her open wounds. It seemed to be an extraordinarily tedious process, one that Rumia never would've been able to do if her opponents hadn't been so preoccupied. Reimu was mentally hitting herself for letting Rumia get such an opportunity. She certainly wouldn't let her get it again.

Reimu gritted her teeth, and with several of those same charms still in hand, began to charge toward Rumia. She flung each of her sealing talismans at the other four shadow duplicates that were still harrying her friends, but she hadn't taken the time to watch and see if they would connect with her targets. Not when she had the chance to strike Rumia while she was vulnerable.

Reimu clutched her gohei and charged at Rumia, gathering up all of the energy that she could muster. "You're finished, Rumia!" Reimu cried as she prepared to swipe her charged gohei at the youkai while she was vulnerable.

All at once, Reimu ground to a halt, as a severe pain clutched the inside of her body. Rumia bellowed another insane bout of laughter, and another surge of agony coursed through Reimu's body, as if something was squeezing her internal organs directly. Reimu shuddered, and took one look at Rumia, seeing that her right arm had seemingly vanished into the darkness.

"What's wrong, Reimu!? Does it _hurt!?"_ Rumia cackled, and Reimu could see no sanity in the woman's current expression. Another wave of anguish left Reimu unable to respond. "It's a special trick I used against that pathetic maid of Shinki's. There's darkness _inside_ of you, Reimu! It's hard for me to control normally, but I'm more powerful than _ever_ inside Makai!"

"R... Rumia..." Reimu muttered out, feeling as though her insides were being torn out.

"Why don't I rip your guts straight from your body, and then shove them back down your throat, so you fucking choke on them? How does _that_ sound Reimu!?" Rumia gave another sharp tug, and for a moment, Reimu was certain that Rumia had every intention of following up on her threat. "Let's see what the _great_ Reimu Hakurei looks like turned inside-out!"

Rumia's insane rambling was put to a stop once more, however, when another of Alice's dolls flew to Reimu's aid, exploding near Rumia's face. The darkness youkai screeched out in rage, and swiped away the next two that flew in her direction. "You fucking whore _bitch!_ You and these _fucking_ ** _toys!"_** Rumia had lost her concentration, and with it, her hold on Reimu, who collapsed to the floor, desperately trying to catch her breath. She had never in her life felt so close to death as she had in that moment.

As Reimu looked around, she could still see Miasma and Sakuya grappling with their respective shadows (it seemed their physical attacks were nearly worthless), while Marisa continued her own battle overhead. Only the charm Reimu had thrown toward Alice's aid had found its target, it seemed, and Reimu was relieved for that much. Alice stood beside Reimu, a serious expression on her face, and Reimu noticed that Alice had finally opened her grimoire. Her body had begun to glow with magical energy, filling her with the grimoire's might.

Rumia threw her arm outward, the one that had been inside of Reimu which was now stained bloody, and attempted to direct her shadows to focus on attacking Alice. The youkai was met with another wave of Alice's dolls from all corners of the room. Most were skewered by Rumia's shadows, but Alice had only needed one to reach their intended target; the shadowy tendrils that had been laced into Rumia's wounds. One doll caught the stringy darkness and continued flying past, wrenching open the wound that Rumia had so carefully mended. Blood splattered out from it, and Rumia's pain had returned in full force, as given away by her screams of rage and agony.

Several more dolls had approached Rumia with alarming speed, and many more had begun to circle around the dark youkai. Rumia's shadows lashed out at each of them in turn, destroying nearly every one, yet it seemed that Alice did not care. Rumia bared her teeth and spat her blood at Alice, while her shadows resumed their work of lacing up their master's wounds.

Alice flipped the page of her grimoire, and began to mutter an incantation, causing the aura around her body to become scarlet in color. "Now, burn!" Alice pointed her right hand at Rumia, causing several massive fireballs to appear, flinging themselves at Alice's intended target.

Rumia's eyes widened briefly in alarm, before raising her arm, so that the shadows would rise to her defense, creating a shield against the oncoming fire attacks. Alice's attack had been quick, and while Rumia's makeshift barrier hadn't protected her entirely (parts of her body were still badly singed by the fire that had seeped through), she avoided any fatal damage. More importantly, it had allowed for her wounds to continue being healed, though the process had slowed considerably.

Alice flipped her grimoire to its next page, and her aura changed to an icy blue. Instead of fireballs, numerous shards of ice were flung at Rumia instead like jagged spears. Rumia's barrier held against the onslaught, but it was weakening. The same thing had happened at the shrine once before, when Rumia had been _sure_ her barrier could hold out against Miasma's physical attacks. Yet she'd been able to break through, and Rumia had been caught in an extremely vulnerable position. And now, here was Alice, using the magic of her grimoire to achieve the same result.

When Rumia spied Alice flipping the pages of her grimoire once again, she took the only chance she would have, during the brief respite between Alice's waves of magic. Rumia's shield broke apart on her command, but it did not disappear, not entirely. It re-purposed itself into countless shadowy spears, all of which were thrown in Alice's direction. Four of the magician's dolls came to her aid, arranging themselves into a rectangle in front of her, generating a shield that protected their controller from harm. Most of the shadow spears were deflected by the shield, while others simply flew past Alice on either side or above her.

Rumia grinned, and closed her fist, causing all of the shadow spears to stop mid-flight, generating a fresh look of alarm from Alice. Once more, Rumia reshaped her darkness, taking the form of numerous shadow hands that now surrounded Alice from every side. They stretched out and reached for her, grasping at her arms and pulling them apart from each other. She wouldn't be able to flip through that grimoire of hers so freely if her arms remained bound.

"Looks like your little plan _failed,_ Alice," Rumia mocked, as she placed a hand over her chest. Her shadows her done their job, and her wounds were nearly healed. "Thinking you could take me out while I was _weak_... and you say I'm cruel.~"

"Don't be so sure of yourself, you bitch." Alice began to mutter another incantation, and though she no longer could flip through her grimoire, both it and Alice began to glow with energy once more. As she continued her incantation, at first, it was unsure what exactly Alice was trying to accomplish. The magical strings that Alice used to control her dolls, which were normally invisible, began to appear as faint bluish strings in the air. It wasn't until Reimu looked over at Rumia that she realized what Alice was doing. Alice's dolls had been working to surround Rumia with their normally intangible and unseen strings, and now she was bound within them. But worse for the youkai, when the shadow that had first closed the wound in her chest had been pulled free, one of Alice's doll strings had been closed in _with_ the second shadow tendril.

"What the _fuck_ did you do!?" Rumia screeched, as she tried to claw at the glowing doll strings that had been laced into her body, attempting to pry them back out of her body.

"You're done, Rumia," Alice replied flatly. Both her body and the grimoire took on a reddish glow, a color that quickly spread to the various interlacing doll strings. The strings burned away at Rumia's flesh, and broke her concentration. The shadows released Alice, and likewise, the shadow duplicates fighting against Marisa, Sakuya, and Miasma faded away.

Steam rose from Rumia's body where her skin was being burned, though the sizzling hiss that it produced was drowned out by Rumia's shouts of pain. To everyone's alarm, the shadows began to engulf Rumia once more, trying to pull her to safety. But Alice's reflexes were quick, and she took quick notice. She had one more flash bomb doll, it seemed, and it was enough to illuminate the room and vanquish Rumia's shadows before she could escape. Though this prompted many more profanities from her.

When the light cleared, Alice's doll strings had faded back into invisible intangibility. Rumia had not moved, but she no longer screeched vulgarities and cries of pain. Though the strings no longer held the youkai in place, she had no way of escaping now. Reimu had arranged several charms in sealing circles around Rumia, which served to both weaken and trap the youkai. Sakuya, now freed from the grip of her creeping shadow, held a blade to Rumia's neck, should she try to dispel Reimu's seals.

"It's over, Rumia," Sakuya said. "Kana isn't here to bail you out this time."

Rumia tried to turn her head, but Sakuya only pressed the knife tighter against the youkai's throat; hard enough to draw a thin line of blood. Rumia kept still from that moment on.

Alice took a step forward. She stumbled, and fell to her knees onto the floor. Her grimoire fell beside her, slamming shut. Marisa, who was closest, ran to help steady the girl, and pull her back to her feet. "I'm fine, I just... it takes a lot out of me."

"You sure you're alright, Alice?"

Alice placed a hand over Marisa's and smiled back, smiling in an an attempt to convey that she was alright. That smile faded, however, when she turned back toward Rumia. "Now... where is my mother, Rumia?"

"Oh...?" Rumia tilted her head, and her lips curled into what seemed to be a mocking sneer. Yet there was a certain acceptance in her features now, which suggested that finally, she had given in. "She's... around, really. You'll see her again." Rumia's eyes shot over to the other side of the room, seemingly toward the throne room's main entrance, but it was only for a fraction of a second. Yet it hadn't gone unnoticed by Reimu, who watched the entrance out of the corner of her eye.

"Don't play games with me, Rumia," Alice took another step, and Marisa helped to keep her balance. "You tell me where she is right now!"

Rumia did not answer. Alice had been about to ask again, when Miasma instead strode over to Rumia, and bashed one of her fists into the woman's stomach. "You already killed _my_ mother. I'm _not_ going to just let you stand there and toy with Alice about hers, too!"

Reimu thought that perhaps it would have been best to stop Miasma from delivering a second blow to Rumia, but she did not. Her mind was elsewhere, half of it watching closely at the throne room door, the other half pondering on some of Rumia's actions. There was no doubt that they had defeated Rumia, but Reimu's intuition seemed to suggest, against all rational thought, that there was more trouble to come. Something that Rumia was _expecting_ this entire time.

In spite of Miasma's physical assault, Rumia would not answer to her or Alice's demands. Instead, she turned her gaze fully toward the opened throne room gateway, the one through which Reimu and everyone had burst through in order to access Rumia, and grinned that disgustingly cunning grin of hers. "Why don't you come out now, you thieving witch?"

"Hey, I'm right here, and I didn't steal nothin' from you!" Marisa shouted, but her words went unacknowledged by Rumia, not as much as a glance in her direction.

Reimu's eyes narrowed as she turned her full attention toward the entryway. She heard a woman's breathy sigh from beyond her line of sight. From beyond the columns that lined the throne room's outer entrance stepped Lilith Maestra, her wispy dress trailing near her feet like black fog. "I would hardly call it thievery, Rumia, when the humans were never yours to take." Lilith's tone was almost sweet, in a way, as if she were gently scolding a child who had unintentionally performed a minor misdeed.

Lilith donned that disarming smile of hers as her eyes swept across the room, surveying the assortment of individuals gathered before Makai's throne; nearly all of whom were relieved to see that if had been Lilith to saunter into their presence, and not Kana. All that is, except for Reimu.

* * *

 **\- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o -**

* * *

"Why are you stopping?" Mima asked, after Reimu had fallen into a period of prolonged silence. Reimu had recited the entire tale, with a few additions from Marisa whenever Reimu broke to rest her voice, up until the arrival of Lilith. "I want to know the rest of what happened, so get on with it."

"I'm embarrassed to say that because of Lilith's intrusion, Rumia is not only still _alive,_ but Lilith escaped with her life as well." More than that though, Reimu wasn't particularly sure how much about Lilith she _wanted_ Mima to know about. It was probably best that Mima didn't know all of the details.

"And you've yet to tell me why that was a particularly _bad_ thing," Mima said, rolling her eyes. "You said that this Lilith was holding the souls of the villagers safe from Rumia."

"We _thought_ she was," Reimu clarified. "Lilith was only trying to gather enough human souls to be able to become a god. Rumia apparently _knew_ about this, and set the whole thing up as a trap to lure Lilith into Makai."

"In the end, Rumia ended up forcin' Lilith to lose all those souls she took, so she ran off before we could do anythin' about it," Marisa said, shrugging her shoulders. "No one's seen Lilith since then. Who knows where she's holed up? But Rumia basically just gave up after that for some reason, and well... we still ended up with both Rumia and Lilith still free. Even if Rumia says she ain't gonna cause any more trouble."

Mima raised an eyebrow at this, and after everything she'd heard (if she even believed it all), _that_ was suspicious. "And after everything you've claimed she's done, you believe that Rumia will stay true to her word?"

Marisa looked at Reimu, wondering the same thing. She hadn't believed Rumia either at the time, but Reimu's account about The Voidborn had cast some doubt on what exactly Marisa believed. Reimu wondered about this, thinking back on Rumia's final actions leading up to her confrontation with The Voidborn, and what had happened after she'd been restored. Finally, Reimu nodded her head, not uttering a word.

"If you say so, Reimu," Mima said, sighing heavily. "I still think most of you are keeping something rather important from me, but I won't push the subject. For now." Mima smiled, and it was the sort of conniving smile that Reimu recognized well from her childhood. In some ways, she trusted Mima even less than she trusted Rumia. The latter, at least, had a tendency to be much more straightforward about her violent ways.

"Akyuu, what did you find that you wanted to show me?" Reimu asked, not even bothering to give Mima any more acknowledgement than she deserved. Which wasn't a whole lot at all, in Reimu's mind.

"Kosuzu is the one who found it, actually," Akyuu said, pointing out the demon book that Kosuzu still clutched in her arms.

"Oh, right! Here, lemme find it again." Kosuzu flipped open the book, reaching the page that she had marked, way toward the end of the smallish book. "It's an ancient prophecy, from a youkai seeress that lived thousands of years ago. I found one that I think has something to do with Rumia and Hana, and everything that happened recently."

"Hana?" Mima asked, curiously trailing her gaze between Kosuzu and Reimu. "Another person you neglected to tell me about, Reimu?"

"She's Yuuka's _other_ daughter, the younger one. She can control light, but she's still really young. Otherwise she might've been able to help us against Rumia."

"Another daughter, you say?" Mima chuckled with amusement at the mental image of Yuuka being stuck caring for of a couple of children. "I did try to warn Yuuka that her habits would eventually come back to bite her in the ass."

"What is it, Kosuzu?" Reimu asked a second time, ignoring Mima yet again. Mima frowned in disapproval. She wasn't so used to Reimu dismissing her quite so easily, and it irked her greatly.

"Well, here, let me recite it for you," Kosuzu looked down at the page she had opened the book to, and coughed to clear her throat. _"'The resurgence of darkness shall come herald by the child of the moon. It shall sleep for a thousand years, until the light is born of the avatar of the sun. The darkness shall return to cover the Earth, and draw the creeping emptiness'"_

The shrine fell silent as all those in the room began to ponder on what Kosuzu had just read. It was obvious, to Reimu at least, that the 'darkness' was referring to Rumia, and her reawakening a thousand years later due to the actions of Shinki. Mima broke the silence, however, with an observation that had also struck a chord in Reimu's mind. "So, this 'light' refers to Yuuka's daughter, Hana, doesn't it? The one who can manipulate light?"

"Yes, we think so. Hana is also the daughter of Utsuho Reiuji, the hell raven who ate the Yatagarasu and inherited the powers of nuclear fusion," Akyuu said, and this seemed to satisfy Mima somehow, as though she had drawn some kind of conclusion that Reimu and Marisa hadn't yet come to. "There's something else, too. About Rumia being the child of the moon."

"Oh, come on... don't tell me that Rumia's mom ate some kinda moon god!" Marisa cried out. Reimu could sympathize with her, though. Rumia was already bad enough on her own, she didn't need the powers of a goddess at her disposal.

"Worse than that, I'm afraid." Marisa groaned again. "I believe that Rumia is the daughter of an _actual_ moon goddess, by the name of Selena Marama."

Mima uttered a short laugh. Reimu didn't like the sound of it one bit. "What's so funny about that, Mima?" Reimu asked.

"Nothing at all. That is just simply a name I haven't heard in _quite_ a long time, that's all." Mima smiled back at Reimu, and she just _knew_ that Mima was hiding something. If she could know what Mima was thinking, she had no doubt that whatever Mima was keeping secret, she only imagined it was payback for the things Reimu herself had been keeping under wraps. "I don't particularly care to hear the rest of whatever it is you have to say. I'll be taking my leave."

"Aw, come on, Mima!" Marisa said, stepping up almost between Mima and the shrine's front door. "Ya just got here, aren't ya gonna stick around and tell me what you've been up to all these years?"

"Oh, don't you worry your pretty little face, Marisa," Mima said, patting her former apprentice on the head. "I'm not leaving Gensokyo, this time. Merely visiting an old friend.~ One day, perhaps soon, I'll tell you all about what I've been up to." Mima drifted off past Marisa and toward the shrine's exit, giving only the briefest wave as she passed through. "Things really _have_ gotten interesting in Gensokyo since I've been away. I'm hoping they stay this way.~"

Just like that, Mima was gone once more, having vanished off into the sky. _She's heading toward Mugenkan,_ Reimu thought to herself, watching the direction that Mima had flown off in. _She knows this Selena person, somehow. I'm sure of it._

"So hey, Akyuu. What's the deal with this Selena chick, exactly?" Marisa asked, drawing Reimu's attention back to the matter at hand.

"Ah, yes... well, after Kosuzu told me what she'd found, I remembered what The Voidborn had called Rumia, using the surname 'Marama'. I had heard of a goddess with that same surname in one of my first lives, but it had been an incredibly long time ago."

"So, after Kosuzu told you... you remembered who Selena was, or you found her name in another book? And you think _she's_ Rumia's mother?" Reimu had never heard of a moon goddess by that name before. The only god in relation to the moon that Reimu was moderately familiar with was Lord Tsukuyomi. At least, in regards to moon deities that were familiar in Japan.

"Exactly. And I believe that Rumia killed Selena shortly after her birth, as well. There is no record of her existence, or of just about _any_ moon-based deity in the world, for the last thousand years," Akyuu finished, and this gave Reimu the chance to think on the matter. It fit, really. Rumia's strength was tied to the phase of the moon, and she was at her most powerful on the night of the full moon. She was thankful that she'd never encountered Rumia on such a night after she'd been unsealed. She wondered, as well, if there was any connection between Selena and Lord Tsukuyomi. Perhaps, if she ever met Yorihime again, she could ask about it.

"So who do ya think Rumia's _other_ parent is, exactly?" Marisa asked. Akyuu and Kosuzu looked at each other, and they both shrugged. "Heh, I got no clue either. They've gotta be someone powerful though."

"Akyuu. You've told Kosuzu everything, haven't you?" Reimu was referring to the true history, involving The Voidborn, of course. She remembered the segment of the prophecy about the 'creeping emptiness'. Even that seemed to fit perfectly with what had happened.

"You mean about the whole Void thing, right?" Kosuzu answered before Akyuu even had the chance to speak. "Yeah, she told me the whole thing. Don't worry Reimu, I'm not telling a soul! Top secret, right?"

"Aw man, so you weren't just having some weird delusion, Reimu?" Marisa said, earning an incredulous look from Reimu.

"You sound almost disappointed that I'm not crazy!"

"Well, yeah! Then I'd have someone to share it with, because we'd _both_ be nuts!" Marisa began to laugh, and Reimu couldn't help but laugh with her. Reimu was actually glad that she _could_ laugh like that again, after everything that happened, and all the turmoil that had filled her mind.

 _Things in Gensokyo are finally going back to normal,_ Reimu thought to herself. _At least as normal as things ever are in Gensokyo._

For that, Reimu felt more relieved than she had since the whole Rumia Incident had started. Despite everything that had happened, she almost felt as though she could begin to look back on it as just another incident.

Normalcy in Gensokyo, in relative terms, was hard to come by. Reimu was intent on relishing it.


	4. Chapter 4: Lilith

**Chapter 4: Lilith**

* * *

After all her hard work, and over 120 years of gradually stockpiling souls (her earliest specimens predating even the Hakurei Border), Lilith found herself with nothing. The poltergeist had seen to that much. She would never be able to show her face in Gensokyo again. Reimu and the others would want to see her killed for her betrayal. If she even lived that long. Rumia _knew_ where she had been living for the last century, and Lilith feared that the bitch could return at any time. She vacated her previous home, at least, in favor of a much deeper cavern hidden away far beneath Youkai Mountain. In truth, she was now closer to the Ancient City beneath the Earth than she was to Gensokyo. She had done her best to ward this new hideaway with the most powerful spells she could manage, in a desperate attempt to conceal herself from Rumia's sight. It made her feel like a rat, scurrying deeper into the dark to avoid being stepped on.

Her new situation was almost worse than simply being dead. At least _then_ she wouldn't have to live with the knowledge of how stupid and arrogant she'd been, and how much it had cost her. And the absolute _embarrassment_ of it all, that was the worst part. Yet, was pride not her very inclination? Lilith supposed she had Evelyn to blame for that much. She would always have _that_. After calling Rumia the imitation, nothing more than a fake, it was pitifully ironic that Lilith was the _actual_ fake, while Rumia truly _was_ Garnet Ferre reborn, as The Voidborn had said.

"No more than a cheap reproduction of the _great_ Evelyn Maestra," Lilith said to herself, as she sat alone in her room. "She's long dead, and I've still never stepped out of that woman's shadow. Not even after all these years."

She'd demanded solitude from her 'siblings', the only living allies she still had or would ever have. They didn't need to see their great, magnanimous older sister in such a sorry state of self-pity; their respect and fear of her was about all she had left, after all, and she was prepared to cling to that.

Lilith's attention fell toward the glass orb, now empty, which had once contained all of the souls she'd amassed over the many decades since Evelyn's death. The only ones left to her now were the dozen or so that she always carried on-hand. These were so old that their former owners were all long dead and forgotten. In a fit of rage, Lilith swatted the orb to the ground, where it shattered to a thousand pieces with a crash that echoed through the twisting corridors of her new home.

 _How could I have been so_ stupid!? Lilith thought to herself. Her own voice reverberated through her mind in an almost painful way. _I_ never _would have entrusted everything to Alan and Melony by themselves! Why wouldn't I have taken the souls_ with _me to Makai!?_ Lilith knew the answer to that already, without even having to think about it. The Voidborn saw fit to mock her efforts, because otherwise, the results would have been the same. Even in the altered history that The Voidborn had created, if she had taken her stockpile of souls to Makai, Rumia would have cloaked the world in darkness just as she had done in the original version of events. The Voidborn would have entered the physical world, just as before, and she would have lost. The Voidborn had told the truth. There was no outcome that would have resulted in Lilith's victory over Rumia.

Her memories, those of the altered history, told a different story altogether. In her mind, things had seemingly gone exactly as she'd hoped; with Reimu and her allies victorious over Rumia. Lilith had gotten cocky, and had gone to Makai alone. She had not taken her entire collection of souls, she did not think she would need them (a lie no doubt put into her mind by The Voidborn), and she had left Alan and Melony to keep watch over them while she clinched her victory by taking Rumia's soul for herself. And yet, all of it had been a deception. And she had fallen for it.

Lilith would now have to live with the memory of not just one loss at Rumia's hands, but _two._

* * *

 **\- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o -**

* * *

"I would hardly call it thievery, Rumia, when the humans were never yours to take," Lilith replied to the darkness youkai, who was now held at the mercy of the maid and the green-haired child. Lilith's eyes took a quick survey of Makai's throne room, taking note of all those present, and those that were absent. She was pleased to see that quite a few of them looked as though they could collapse at any second. Rumia's soul _alone_ would be sufficient to deal with any of those that tried to resist.

Lilith had been pleasantly surprised to learn that Rumia's dark barrier in front of Makai's entrance had fallen that day. She hadn't counted on being able to enter Makai at all, to be able to claim the spoils of whichever side claimed victory. The souls of the losers (either side would have made a great prize) would have otherwise been out of her reach, locked away in Makai and out of Lilith's hands for good. She was not about to miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime, especially since it was Rumia who had become the loser of this battle.

Lilith smiled sweetly at the warriors of Gensokyo, and she began to approach them slowly. "I'm pleased to see that the majority of you are unharmed. But weren't there supposed to be two more with you?" Lilith asked, but she wasn't truly interested in their answer. Whether they were here or not made little difference.

"You mean Sanae and Youmu?" Marisa asked. Lilith noted that she was the only thing holding the doll-maker, Alice, upright at this point. That was good as well. She wouldn't be of much use in a fight if she had to hold her friend steady the whole time. "They're down on one of the lower levels, fightin' it out with Kana. I gotta say, I was hopin' it'd be them walkin' through those doors. But I'm at least glad it was _you_ and not Kana."

"I bet you _are,_ you stupid whore," Rumia grunted out at Marisa. This earned Rumia another punch to the gut by Miasma. "Will you fucking _stop that!?"_

"Keep your mouth shut, Rumia. You're lucky I don't snap your head off for what you did to my mom," Miasma said. How amusing it would have been to watch Miasma beat the woman to death. It would be a fitting end to such a troublesome creature.

"What brought you all the way to Makai, Lilith?" Sakuya asked, her knife still pressed to Rumia's neck.

"Well, I arrived at the shrine not long ago, hoping to wish you all luck in your endeavor, but you had already departed," Lilith said, smiling as she did. "It seems that it was not necessary, as I see you've already defeated Rumia. But when I found that the barrier at Makai's entrance had fallen, I just had to check for myself what became of you all."

"You came to gloat, that's all," Rumia spoke again, but Miasma did not silence her this time. "Because you think you won, is that it? The one thing standing in your way, me that is, has been defeated. And now you've won, and you're free to go about your schemes."

"What _are_ you ranting on about now, Rumia?" Alice fixed the evil youkai with a glare, which was only met by a smug sneer from Rumia. Alice turned her eyes toward Lilith, faintly curious by Rumia's words, but not distrustful.

"I haven't the faintest clue what the woman is referring to. I can only assume that she's angry that my actions to defend the humans of the village were what drew her into this losing confrontation," Lilith's smile never faltered. Rumia was in a losing position, and she would say anything to throw attention away from herself. But with no proof, and with no way to obtain it, who would believe the words of a soon to be dead murderer? "What do you say we finish Rumia off, and put an end to this nasty business?"

It seemed that everyone was in agreement with Lilith's words. Her victory was all but assured at that very moment; and yet a single sentence was enough to wipe the smile from Lilith's lips. "I want to hear what Rumia has to say for herself."

It was Reimu who had spoken up, Lilith realized. Her muscles twitched ever so slightly, as though the words had stung her like an insect's bite. She turned to face the shrine maiden, and was faced with a sullen glare from the young woman's eyes. This wasn't, Lilith realized, a gaze that had been meant for Rumia, either. Lilith donned her smile once again, and bowed slightly at the shrine maiden, to implore her cooperation. "Surely, Miss Hakurei, you cannot seriously wish to give any consideration to Rumia's final protests? I can't imagine she'll have anything of value to say, unless you desire for her to insult you and your friends even more than she already has."

"Come on Reimu, Lilith's right," Marisa said, but Lilith could tell that she had begun to sound uncertain. "What if Kana comes back, and she manages to free Rumia while we're all just standing here?"

"If she isn't going to tell us where my mother is hidden, then good riddance to her," Alice finished. Oh how Lilith could only hope that Reimu would listen to her friend's advice.

"Kana isn't going to show up. Not until Rumia tells her to, isn't that right?" Rumia's grin widened, revealing her jagged rows of blood-stained teeth. Reimu, likewise, smirked in return. "I thought it seemed odd that Rumia would allow Kana to stay behind all this time, when she could have easily abandoned Sanae and Youmu deep within Pandaemonium somewhere. When she lost, she seemed like she _knew_ that you would show up, Lilith. Why would she know something like that?"

"I... what could you _possibly_ be trying to accuse me of, Reimu?" Lilith took a step away from the young shrine maiden. Her voice faltered as she spoke, and she cursed Reimu in her mind.

"I never said I was accusing you of anything, Lilith. But now I think you _are_ hiding something." Reimu mercifully cast her eyes away from Lilith (that young woman's intuition was almost frightening to see in them), and instead fell back upon Rumia. "Say what you want to say, Rumia."

"It would be easier without a _knife_ to my fucking neck," Rumia spat out to Sakuya, who made no move to remove the blade. "Lilith has been lying to you all this whole time. She's been living in Gensokyo for _years_ already, harvesting souls for her own gain. She wants to become a _god_ she says." Rumia laughed at this, seemingly finding it to be a pitiful notion.

"You _can't_ be believing a word that this woman says, Reimu," Lilith said, interrupting Rumia before she could continue, though she found herself addressing not just Reimu, but everyone in the room. She could sense the doubt that had wormed its way into their minds, and could feel their accusing stares. "Rumia only wants to divert attention away from _herself_ so that you'll let your guards down, so she can escape."

"I'm not going anywhere. I know I've lost. Slit my throat now, for all I care! You'll be following close behind me to Hell, Lilith, I just know it." Rumia began to laugh, uncaring that Sakuya's knife still pressed against her vulnerable neck, drawing a thin line of blood across its length. "You were just _so stupid_ Lilith, I could hardly believe it."

"I will not be insulted by the likes of you!" Lilith no longer cared what Reimu or her companions thought now. With Rumia dead, finishing the rest off would be child's play. Lilith called upon one of the several souls she always carried on her person to her hand, immediately modifying it into the shape of a long spear. She would finish Rumia _herself_ if the others wouldn't do it.

"Now, Kana!" Rumia shouted, just as the ethereal spear left Lilith's hand, flung through the air toward the dark youkai.

"Kana to the rescue~!" the poltergeist said, her voice echoing through the throne room. The crystalline floor rose up in the form of a thin wall, shielding Rumia from Lilith's spear. It clattered to the floor, before it reverted back to its amorphous natural state and drifted back to the succubus.

Sakuya, confused by this sudden turn of events, was unsure of how to proceed, and hesitated for but a moment. It was that hesitation that allowed for Kana to send one of her soul birds into Sakuya's knife, and wrench it from the maid's grip, freeing Rumia from any immediate danger. Miasma might have tried to finish the job in Sakuya's place, had Kana not emerged from the floor directly between the young half-doll and Rumia herself, acting as the woman's shield with her arms outstretched.

Lilith gritted her teeth in irritation, and began to call upon several more of the souls that she had on hand, before she was stopped by a direct address from Rumia. "You'll want to put those away, Lilith," the youkai said, and how Lilith despised that smugness in her voice, "unless you want to lose _more_ than just that little stockpile of yours."

On Rumia's cue, two things both happened at once, each of which horrified Lilith to no end; and how much she _hated_ those two just then, she would never be able to put into words. Conjured up from the darkness in Rumia's palm, sat the glass orb full of souls that Lilith had kept safe for all those years. Behind Rumia, Kana opened a portal from the Void. Out from it stepped the two that had been missing from Reimu's group, Sanae and Youmu, who were leading along Alan and Melony respectively. Melony, at least, struggled against Youmu's hold as best she could, but the sword that was held to her neck prevented her from making a real effort of it. Alan was merely being led along by Sanae, rather complacently as well, as if he'd given up without even a fight (and he probably had).

Reimu's group seemed to have been just as surprised about the arrival of their two remaining companions as they had about seeing Kana for the first time (no doubt thinking them dead, if Kana was still alive). As though to answer the question that had yet been unvoiced, Sanae spoke out on their behalf. "Almost immediately after the rest of you left, Kana just sort of... gave up. She explained everything about Lilith, saying that she wanted to let us kill Rumia, so she could wipe the rest of us out and steal our souls."

"Not that we believed a word of it," Youmu said next, "but before we could try and argue, she dragged us off through one of those Void portals into Lilith's home. This one here," Youmu indicated Melony, who once more struggled against the half-phantom girl's blade, "was guarding that glass orb Rumia has, and she tried to kill us the moment she saw us."

"Alan here confessed to _everything_ the second we cornered him. It's all true." It was no wonder Alan had gone along so easily. All Sanae had done was probably just ask him nicely to come along.

"You worthless traitor!" Melony shouted, writhing with hatred in Youmu's grip. "You'd better hope they _do_ kill me, because you don't want to find out what I'm going to do if I ever get my hands on your sorry ass again!"

A million thoughts raced through Lilith's mind at once. She needed to come up with something, _anything_ she could do to salvage this situation. She hadn't survived for billions of years on nothing but luck. Her eyes fell upon the glass orb on Rumia's palm. It was close, maybe even close enough to take advantage of its contents without needing to have it in her grasp.

"Don't be getting any funny ideas, now," Rumia said, as the orb was once again lost to the darkness, whisked away to some unknown location. "You'll be getting that little glass ball of yours back, but it'll be considerably lighter. Maybe if you cooperate, you and your pathetic excuses of siblings might live to see another day."

All eyes were on Lilith. Although Sakuya and Miasma had not strayed far from Rumia, and still seemed ready to strike against her if given the chance, their attention was more closely fixed upon Lilith herself. Nothing she could say would convince them that Rumia was lying, or that Alan had made everything up. Lilith realized then what should have been obvious from the start: Rumia _wanted_ Lilith to confront her in Makai. That was why she'd let the barrier down. She didn't care who reigned victorious in her battle against Reimu and her companions, because Kana would be her ace in the hole. If only she'd at least taken Alan and Melony _with_ her to Makai, and the souls as well. Why hadn't she? Because Rumia had been right about another thing. She _had_ wanted to gloat about her victory. Her own pride had been her downfall from the start, and she'd written Rumia off as nothing more than a deranged murderer.

Lilith realized she had no chance of escape (not without losing both Alan and Melony, and all of her collected souls), and no way of turning the tables on her enemies. She was outnumbered, and with no more than a couple dozen souls at her disposal; not enough to deal with that many opponents at one time. "... What _do_ you want me to do, Rumia?" Lilith asked, as she finally admitted defeat to herself.

"Simple, really." Rumia licked her lips. "Return all of the souls you have in that orb of yours. Particularly the humans from the village, but I have no doubt that Reimu and her friends would be _very_ grateful if you were to return the others as well."

Reimu narrowed her eyes and tucked a hand into one of her sleeves. Lilith could see the bases of several sealing charms clasped between the tips of her fingers. "What _others_ is she talking about, Lilith?"

Lilith said nothing. It wouldn't have mattered. As bad as everything was, it was somehow _worse_ just having to admit it all in such a vulnerable manner. It would have been different if she were revealing her plots during her moment of victory, to see the stunned looks on their faces when they realized how long Lilith's plan had been in motion for. To admit everything at Rumia's command would make her sick to her stomach.

"She's been hoarding souls since before the Hakurei Border was even created.~" Kana spoke in Lilith's place, when it became clear that she wasn't going to admit to her actions. "Most of them she stole every sixty years, during the sexagenary cycle years, when Gensokyo would become full of souls waiting to pass through Higan. She thought no one would notice if a few just happened to go missing. I think the Enma would probably be very eager to hear just what happened to them, and to see them finally returned.~"

"Is that right?" Reimu asked, though it was directed as more of an accusation toward Lilith, than as a question in response to Kana. "And is that _all_ you've been hiding?"

"Not quite," Rumia said, and at that moment, conjured up several more objects from the darkness. This time, to the disgust of nearly everyone present, they were simply more corpses of the youkai's earlier victims. Rumia tossed these bodies to the floor, the corpses of the younger Yakumo shikigami, Chen, the winter spirit, Letty Whiterock, and the two autumn goddesses, Shizuha and Minoriko Aki. "Our good friend has been quite busy, snatching up my leftovers when I wasn't looking. Perhaps if you ask ever so nicely, just _maybe_ she might be able to restore these pathetic things back to life."

Miasma flinched at that moment, and turned her eyes back to the body of her mother, which had been lying on the floor near Rumia's twisted throne since before Lilith arrived. "Does that... mean my mom's soul, too...? Lilith could bring her back?"

"I didn't touch your mother's soul, you stupid girl," Lilith replied, fully dropping her kind act. She realized at once that it had been a terrible way of saying it, when she saw the anger in Miasma's eyes. She had an idea of just what that girl might be capable of, if she were angry enough to retaliate. "What makes you think I'd go so far as to do all of that for you?"

"Because right now, it seems to be the only thing keeping us from letting you live," Reimu stated plainly. The shrine maiden turned back to Rumia, however, with a look of curiosity. "Why would _you_ help us, Rumia? Why didn't you just have Kana help you kill us, and then deal with Lilith afterward?"

Rumia's blood-stained grin faded into an expression of utter disinterest. "You said it yourself, Reimu. It would've been _boring_ if I didn't fight you myself. I went all out on you, with my strength at its peak, and I lost." Rumia followed this statement with little more than a shrug of her shoulders, and a quiet sigh. "You won, Reimu. My so-called rampage is over. Another incident solved, right?"

"J... just like that!?" Marisa gawked, utterly shocked. She couldn't tell if Rumia was being sarcastic (her tone certainly would've suggested so), or if she was actually sincere.

"And you think we're just going to _forgive_ you for everything you've done!?" Miasma added on, speaking through clenched teeth.

"I don't _care_ if you forgive me or not. Do I look like someone who gives a fuck about your forgiveness?" Rumia replied flatly. She placed a hand to her chest, the spot where her shattered rib had originally broken through the skin, and winced. "You might all be able to beat me _on my own,_ when acting as group. But you wouldn't stand a chance if both of us decided to take you lot seriously." Miasma had nothing to say to this, because she knew Rumia was right. Or at least, even if they _did_ defeat both Rumia and Kana, what would such a victory cost?

"It's not so simple to raise the dead," Lilith said, finally, now that an uneasy understanding had been established with Rumia. "I may have the souls of a few of Rumia's victims, yes. That does not mean I can undo everything that she has done."

"Oh... I'm sure you'll find a way." Rumia seemed to smile in a way that was a cruel mockery of Lilith's own. "Someone as crafty as you? Why, it shouldn't be a problem at all.~"

* * *

 **\- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o -**

* * *

As Lilith reminisced over these events, ones that she knew had _really_ only been put in place by The Voidborn (her grasp on the concepts of the Void and its workings was much better than the likes of Reimu or her friends), she wondered just how much of it had been complete absurdity. With all of her resources, Lilith didn't believe she could really revive a deceased goddess, such as the likes of the Aki sisters. Yet her memory suggested that she had done so. It struck Lilith that it had been merely an act of actual _laziness_ on the part of The Voidborn, as an excuse to revive all those whose souls Lilith had taken in recent days.

Losing to Rumia had been bad enough, but it seemed that the forces of creation itself conspired against her. The Void itself saw fit to make a mockery of all her efforts. The Voidborn had rewritten history in a way that made Lilith sick with her _own_ actions, ones her rational mind insisted that she _never_ would have taken.

But Lilith was nothing if not resourceful. She could rebuild from the ground up. In truth, she doubted Rumia would keep to her word. If the opportunity to wipe Reimu, Rumia, Kana, and all of the others off the face of the Earth ever presented itself, she would be there to take it.

"Lilith," a voice called out tentatively from the doorway, clearly mindful of interrupting the solitude Lilith had ordered. "I've finished moving everything from our old home."

"It's about time, Melony," Lilith nearly snapped back, not even turning her head to meet her 'sister's' gaze. "Where's your brother?"

"I locked him up in one of the smaller caverns, somewhere," Melony said, with notable distaste in her voice. "The little traitor can rot in there for all I care. It's all _his_ fault we're in this situation to begin with."

"Enough, Melony."

"He's outlived his usefulness anyway! If it were up to me, I would be wringing the little bastard's thr-"

A heavy-handed slap sent Melony crashing to the floor, cutting her off in mid-rant. Lilith had moved so quickly that Melony hadn't even noticed her get up from her chair. "It's as much your fault as it is his. _You_ were the one who attacked those three the moment you saw them, without even trying to reason with them." Lilith stood over the younger succubus, and her stern expression send a tremble of fear through Melony. "Those two cohorts of Reimu's never would have believed a word Kana said if you hadn't attacked without provocation. There was no evidence that there was anything more than the souls of the human villagers in our possession. Alan wouldn't have said _anything_ if he hadn't been backed into a corner because of _your_ stupidity."

Melony didn't say a word. She merely clutched her hand to the reddening mark on her cheek. It would no doubt become a dark bruise by day's end. Lilith reached down and seized Melony's arm, pulling the girl back to her feet. "You're going out into Gensokyo on reconnaissance. I haven't given up just yet."

"They'll _kill_ me if they see me, Lilith," Melony said. There was defiance in the girl's eyes. Melony had always been loyal, and it had been a long time since Lilith had last been forced to discipline her so harshly. "Or if they don't, they'll wait until I come back _here_ and lead them to you."

"Then if someone sees you, you'd better hope they _do_ kill you." Lilith's tone was almost devoid of emotion, and she donned that faux smile of hers once more, and flashed it at Melony. "Because I guarantee that death is preferable to what I will do to you if you fail me again. Now _go."_ Melony was out of Lilith's sight in seconds, without another word.

History had been cruel to Lilith, a woman who often felt like no more than the shadow of her creator. For many centuries, she sought the power to change her fate; the power to become _more_ than what she was. The new God of this universe. _I'll show all of them that I'm more than just Evelyn's fake,_ Lilith thought to herself. _Not even The Voidborn herself will be able to stop me._

 _If conviction could kill, Lilith's would have slain the world twice over._


	5. Chapter 5: Mima

**Chapter 5: Mima**

* * *

How many years had it been since Mima had last seen Selena Marama? Certainly well over a thousand years, several centuries before this supposed rampage that Rumia had gone on following Yukari's Lunar War. Mima hadn't stayed to listen to the rest of what Akyuu and Kosuzu had said, nor did she need to. If Rumia was Selena's daughter after all, which Mima now suspected was the case, she knew that Selena was certainly dead. And with her, every god or goddess of the moon that had ever existed; Lord Tsukuyomi included. What an elaborate lie the upper ranks of the Lunarians must have concocted in order to keep the disappearance (and probable death) of their founder a secret.

Mima had learned much during her time with Selena. While the goddess that she'd known may not have been the 'true' form by which she was known, it was one she professed to favor over most others, and it was the one she donned when the two were together. She revealed to Mima that she was the true identity (or perhaps it was the other way around) of Lord Tsukuyomi, and that she'd founded Lunarian society when humanity was still young, in order to bestow upon them her divine protection from the growing corruptions of the Earth. These same corruptions, Selena explained, would eventually take hold of the many lesser deities of the world, who wanted to use their power and status to rule over humanity, and have them as worshipers and servants. Only later did they realize that this would become their undoing, when they became reliant on that same worship in order to survive, as they _too_ became subject to the corruptions of Earth. It was a fact that had become lost over the course of history, as many of the old gods lost their power, and died when there were no longer humans to worship them.

 _"And yet, here you are, on the very same Earth you say has been the cause of so many problems,"_ Mima had said to Selena following this explanation.

 _"Whether or not she suffers those same corruptions,"_ Selena had replied, _"the Goddess of the Moon will never have any shortage of worshipers, will she?"_

Whether or not Selena had fallen victim to the same contamination that had befallen so many deities before her, Mima did not know. Selena had never confirmed it one way or the other. Mima _did_ suspect she had. How else would she have been so easily killed by her own daughter?

Mima's brief relationship with Selena hadn't been anything she would have considered romantic, not by any means. Yet it had been intimate enough that Mima also suspected something else about the nature of Rumia's birth; that Rumia was her own daughter. A half-goddess, half-phantom, masquerading as a youkai (if Rumia even _knew_ of her true lineage anymore, and Mima suspected she at least knew of Selena), with the power to wield darkness with incredibly high levels of power and skill. Now _that_ was a sickening little twist if there ever was one. It was no wonder that Rumia seemed to be so difficult to put down for good. But, Mima had to admit, she was curious to meet this 'youkai' that had caused so many problems. Whether or not she should tell Rumia the truth about her parentage, on the other hand, was a decision that would require a good deal more consideration.

Then there was this prophecy, the one that Kosuzu had found. It had sounded familiar to Mima when she'd first heard it, but only after she gave it some more thought did she realize that she _had_ heard it once before. Not long after she'd first met Selena, in fact, and she had heard iit directly from the source. The same youkai seeress, a rather famous individual at the time, whose prophecies filled that book Kosuzu had found. Mima had even met that youkai's daughter once; the poor thing had only inherited a mere fraction of her mother's power. Mima had written off the words of the seeress as little more than nonsense. Few of the woman's predictions, at the time, had yet to come true, so there was no way of judging the accuracy of her abilities. By the time that most of her prophecies came to pass, her life had already ended (it was rumored that those who could predict the future rarely led long lives, and Mima believed there was some truth to them). Mima had not been in Japan at the time of Rumia's original rampage, and had not been aware of her existence at all, in order to make the connection between the event and the seeress' words (and had she seen Rumia, she would've immediately noticed the resemblance between her and Selena).

Yet Rumia's origins only made up _half_ of that ancient prediction. There was still the matter of the 'light' it had mentioned. Hana Kazami, the newest daughter of Mima's old friend, Yuuka. She was a child that Mima wanted to meet for herself, and it was why she now found herself in Mugenkan for the first time in over a decade. Though she _did_ also wanted to catch up with Yuuka as well, after all these years. No one would look at her visit to Mugenkan as anything other than a chance to visit an old friend after a long leave of absence. That was what she'd told Yuuka's gatekeepers, Elly and Kurumi, anyway. No need for them to know that she had a few ulterior motives behind her visit, and some more secretive business with their employer.

 _Even after all these years, Mugenkan looks exactly the same,_ Mima thought, but she wasn't all that surprised. Mugenkan had existed for a far longer time than Yuuka had, and would continue to exist as the boundary between the physical world and the Dream World long after Yuuka was dead and gone.

Mima had only been wandering the halls for a minute or so, aimlessly exploring as she tried to find her old friend, when she was greeted by the sound of a high childish laughter from further inside the depths of the mansion. She heard that same voice speaking something that she couldn't make out, before it resumed laughing. Before Mima even realized what had happened, the hallway flashed brightly (it couldn't have lasted for more than a fraction of a second), and then there was a young girl with dark green hair standing in front of Mima, staring up at the ghostly woman. The little girl tilted her head to the side with a curious, innocent look.

"Hello, miss ghost lady!" the girl suddenly declared, as her face broke out into a bright smile. The girl bore only a passing resemblance to Yuuka, but Mima knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this one had to be Hana, Yuuka's youngest daughter, especially if that flash of light was any indication.

"Well hello there, little one.~" Mima said in reply, and she returned the young girl's smile, though not as kindly. Mima didn't think anyone she knew would be able to, anyway. "You must be Hana, if I'm not mistaken?"

"Yup, that's me!" Hana then adopted that curious expression once more, as though she were only just _now_ questioning who Mima even was. "Hey, so how did you know my name?"

"I'm a friend of your mother's, and I've heard a lot about you," Mima replied, and this seemed to satisfy the young girl. "Now, tell me. Have you seen your mother around the mansion today? It's been so _long_ since I've seen her, and I'd very much like to speak with her."

"Nope! Dunno where she is!" Hana shrugged her shoulders, and as she did so, Mima could hear a set of footsteps approaching from down the hall from which Hana had appeared. "She's usually not home til later.~"

 _"There_ you are, Hana," the voice of this second person said, as another girl (older than Hana for sure) approached from the far end of the hall. "You _know_ I can't keep up if you run off like that." The second girl narrowed her eyes at Mima in suspicion, and they never averted their gaze even as she took a defensive step toward Hana. "And just who are you, and how did you get in here?" Mima only smirked at the girl's defiant tone of voice.

"My, aren't you a cheeky one. I can tell just by the sound of you." There was no doubt though that this second girl was Yuuka's daughter, Miasma. The resemblance was uncanny. Mima did not know if Yuuka had ever truly been 'young' in stature, but if she had, she would have been a dead ringer for Miasma. "If this one's Hana, I'm certain you must be Miasma. Reimu told me about you, and how you managed to take on Rumia. Impressive, if everything she told me was true." Mima's smirk widened. "You're shorter than I expected, though."

Miasma balled one of her hands into a fist. "... Excuse me?"

"I guess it only makes sense," Mima continued, not even acknowledging that Miasma had (or hadn't) heard her. "From what I heard, you've got a short enough temper to match your stature."

"Say anything else, and you really _will_ find out if what Reimu said was true or not." There was clear anger in Miasma's eyes, and Mima suspected that if she were to continue, Miasma really _would_ try to beat her senseless. Not that it would _work._ Physical blows didn't mean much to spirits like Mima (not unless she purposely made herself tangible), so Miasma was more than welcome to try.

"I'm not so interested in _you_ anyway.~" Mima waved a hand as if to shoo Miasma away. "Hana, why don't you tell me just what it is your powers can do?"

"You _still_ never answered my question," Miasma said, interrupting Hana before she could reply to Mima. "Who are you, and why are you here?"

"I am Mima, and I'm a friend of Yuuka's. Not that my business with her is any of _yours,_ Miasma." Mima smiled, but in a mocking way that seemed to beg retaliation from the young girl.

Miasma almost _did_ strike at Mima, before the harsh, sharp voice of her mother cut her off. "Enough, Miasma," Yuuka's voice said, with a finality that silenced the two. Mima turned her head to see Yuuka striding down the hall from behind her, her expression almost as sour-looking as Miasma's at that moment. Yuuka stopped when she was beside Mima, standing just in front of her two daughters. Yuuka seemed to regard them both for a moment, before she finally spoke again. "Miasma, go take your sister, and go out to Gensokyo. I don't care _where_ you go. Mima and I have private matters to discuss."

"But-" Miasma had begun, but she didn't continue. Strong as she was, perhaps even more so than her mother in a purely physical sense, it seemed Miasma knew better than to argue with Yuuka once she'd made up her mind. "Fine. We were heading out to the shrine, anyway." Miasma picked up her younger sister effortlessly, and gave Hana a gentle smile that was so unlike the anger she'd displayed moments before. "Come on, we'll even go get you a treat from the village after we go see Reimu."

"Yay! You're the best, sis.~" Hana cheered, and threw her arms around Miasma's shoulders in a tight embrace, as she was being carried away down the hall, and eventually out of sight.

With her daughters gone, and the two now alone, Yuuka smiled as she turned to face her old friend. "With everything that's been happening recently, I should be concerned that you'd show up _now_ of all times. But on the other hand, it's good to see that not _everything_ has changed on me."

"I'd have to disagree with you there. Gensokyo isn't a thing like it was when I was here last." Mima nudged Yuuka's shoulder with her elbow, and began to laugh teasingly at the woman. "You're the _last_ person I would've expected to settle down and have a couple of kids, Yuuka."

Yuuka's frown returned, and her eyes regarded Mima with an impatient look. "I didn't 'settle down', and I never wanted to be stuck taking care of them. I leave Hana's care to Elly and Miasma." Yuuka crossed her arms. "I really don't want much to do with them."

"Well no wonder Miasma's so grouchy. With _you_ for a mom, I'd be a touch irritable too." Playful as her comments were meant to be, Yuuka seemed none too pleased by them, and so Mima did not push the jokes too far. Yuuka was, after all, one of the few people she had even the slightest modicum of respect for. And probably the _only_ person in Gensokyo these days she could even consider to be a friend. "I would think you would be at least a _little_ bit interested in Hana and her abilities, however. Or at least, you will be, after you hear what I came here to talk about.~"

Yuuka raised an eyebrow at this. "I know of Hana's ability to control light, if that's what you're getting at. An interesting development, considering some of the more... recent events."

"So, this whole Rumia business is true, then." Yuuka did not seem surprised that Mima already knew of this, but Mima went on to elaborate nonetheless. "Reimu told me everything."

"Yes, I'm sure that whatever she told you is true. But I don't suppose she mentioned my involvement the _first_ time Rumia appeared in Gensokyo."

"Oh?" This was the first that Mima had heard of anyone other than Yukari being involved at the time of Rumia's sealing. At least, in terms of those that stood against Rumia that were _still alive._ "That couldn't have been long after your departure from the Dream World. I never thought that back then you would've involved yourself in Gensokyo affairs."

"Yukari practically _begged_ for my help. The problem was that I not only underestimated Rumia's ability, but also neglected to realize the cost I paid when I left Mugenkan for the first time." Yuuka smiled once more, one that the surviving demons of Makai would have recognized well. "I nearly succumbed to my wounds during that battle, and returned to the Dream World to recuperate. You can imagine how furious I was to realize that when I was awoken by Reimu and your former student, that returning home had not restored my immortality."

"And you vented your frustrations by wiping out half of Makai's population. With some help, of course," Mima finished, and returned Yuuka's grin. "Ah, it's been too long, Yuuka. An eternity in the Dream World wouldn't have suited you, anyway."

"I suppose not." Mima wondered how long it had been since Yuuka had even entered the Dream World. Probably not since the day she'd met Reimu and Marisa, all those years ago. "You came here to talk about something," Yuuka said now, returning to the subject at hand, "and that it involved Hana. So I'd like to get on with it."

"You never were the patient sort, Yuuka," Mima replied, but she seemed unbothered by this fact. "Really, it's something I can't believe you haven't noticed yourself. Do you remember that youkai seeress who lived in Japan shortly before the Lunar War?"

"I don't recall her name, but yes, I do. She was probably killed by Rumia, or maybe she was dragged into Yukari's pointless war. I doubt it matters, since no one ever heard of her again after that. I never put very much faith into the words of anyone claiming to know the future."

"If you were really asleep for a thousand years, then you wouldn't know that most of her predictions actually _did_ come to pass in the years after her death," Mima said, and this seemed to catch Yuuka's attention. "Including one of the _last_ ones she made. And you might be interested to know that this one involves the both of us quite heavily."

"She made quite a fuss about that last one she made, right before the start of Yukari's war. That one about the surging darkness, and the avatar of the sun. Is _that_ the one you're referring to?" Yuuka still seemed doubtful, but it was clear in her troubled expression that an inkling of understanding had begun to work its way into the ancient youkai's mind.

"You still don't get it, do you? The 'darkness' is Rumia, and the 'light' is Hana. The avatar of the sun is that hell raven you so _carelessly_ slept with." Yuuka gave Mima a look that would've terrified any lesser being, but Mima was unfazed. "And the 'moon' refers to Selena Marama, the Moon Goddess. She's Rumia's mother."

"That one you spent all that time cavorting around with back then?" Yuuka stopped, realizing immediately what Mima was trying to imply. Although Mima didn't know it, Yuuka was now noticing the resemblance that Rumia bore to Selena (though Yuuka had only met the goddess once before, and hadn't made the connection until now). "You can't be serious thinking that Rumia is _your_ daughter."

"That's _exactly_ what I think, Yuuka," Mima said, now smirking with amusement. "It fits, doesn't it? Rumia, the daughter of a moon goddess, with power over darkness. Hana, the daughter of a hell raven with the powers of the sun god, who now has power of light. And the two of us, so very different, and yet so alike. You, closer to the sun, and me, closer to the moon. It's oddly fitting, don't you think~?"

"You must have lost your mind back in the Outside World, is what I think, Mima," Yuuka practically growled out. She didn't need to say what was on her mind for Mima to understand what was making Yuuka so angry. She _knew_ that Mima was right, but that wasn't specifically what bothered her. No, it was that she didn't like her life being dictated by some long dead youkai seeress. "I'm not about to believe something so asinine without any shred of proof."

"Say what you will, but you know that I'm right.~" Mima did not have any proof to offer, but there was at least one thing that came to mind. It would at least provide Mima with a chance to meet with her own daughter for the first time. "If you'd like, we could always _ask_ Rumia who gave birth to her. And if she says that it's Selena, well..."

"I'm not going to waste my time talking to that psychopath. Why didn't you just ask Selena yourself?"

"What do you think I was off doing in the Outside World for so long? I thought that maybe I'd find Selena out there somewhere, but I never found any trace of her. I can only assume now that Rumia killed her, sometime before you and Yukari sealed her powers away."

"Even more reason why I'm not about to go ask Rumia about it, then. But if you're _truly_ so insistent, I will look into it myself." Yuuka took one step to turn around, and then stopped, considering something. "Keep this theory of yours to yourself, Mima. If it really does end up being true, the _last_ thing we need is for everyone to know about our involvement in this whole Rumia thing."

"My lips are sealed, Yuuka. This stays between us.~" Mima called back, as she watched Yuuka depart down the halls of Mugenkan. No doubt to return to the Dream World for the first time in many years, to seek the wisdom of some of its _other_ inhabitants; beings that Yuuka might even consider to be elder sisters, of sorts.

Mima had never visited the Dream World herself, but she'd heard of its inhabitants from Yuuka in the past, and they were notoriously tricky creatures; the Dream Youkai, an immortal race that were bound to the Dream World for eternity, lest they forfeit their eternal life. Yuuka had once lived among them, and now she would seek their counsel. It was just a question of whether or not she would actually receive it.

Mima didn't know if they would help or not, but either way, she found herself feeling at home in Gensokyo once more. Perhaps she'd simply resume where she'd left off all those years ago, tormenting Reimu and her shrine as her main source of amusement. Mima certainly thought _that_ would be fun.


	6. Chapter 6: Yukari

**Chapter 6: Yukari**

* * *

"You are _not_ welcome here, Rumia! Haven't you done enough damage!?" Ran shouted out at the darkness youkai, who had only just seconds before materialized in Yukari's home. "Was killing Chen _once_ not enough for you, you monster!?"

"Calm down, Ran," Yukari said, as she placed a hand on the shoulder of her shikigami to silence her. Yukari had been in the process of explaining to Ran the _true_ history of events, involving The Voidborn, and the restoration of Gensokyo, when Rumia appeared before them. As much as she herself disliked and even feared Rumia, she was not exactly pleased with Ran's outburst. Yukari eyed the dark youkai carefully, and she could immediately sense that something was wrong about her, something that seemed slightly _off._ Perhaps just the simple lack of anything malicious in Rumia's expression at that moment was odd enough.

"I'm... sorry to barge in like this, really!" Rumia shouted, and bowed her head in a polite manner that Yukari _never_ would've expected from the Rumia she knew. In her rage, Ran didn't seem to notice how strange Rumia was acting, but Yukari certainly did. "I just didn't know who else to come to, and I needed to ask for a favor."

"A _favor!?_ Do you really think that either of us will help you with-"

"Leave, Ran," Yukari stated, interrupting the other woman before she had the chance to finish.

"Lady Yukari, you can't seriously be willing to give in to this... this _murderer's_ demands, can you!?" Ran looked utterly baffled, and Yukari saw Rumia frown slightly. She almost seemed saddened, in a way that was as unnatural as everything else she'd displayed in the past few moments.

"Whether or not I do what she asks depends on what she has to say." Yukari spoke with the utmost seriousness, and in a manner that would allow for no argument. She was still Ran's master, after all, and her word was law to her shikigami, whether Ran liked it or not. "Leave, Ran," Yukari repeated. "I won't repeat myself a second time."

For a moment, Yukari was almost certain that Ran would protest once again; and Ran _did_ hesitate briefly. Finally, Ran put her hands together and turned away from her master, and stepped out of the room, sparing only a short, curt glance at Rumia.

Yukari did not speak again until Ran had left the room, and had shut the door behind her. Even then, she remained silent for a time, regarding the Rumia that stood before her. She was so unlike the Rumia who had murdered Chen, along with so many others. And yet, Yukari knew this Rumia as well. "You're the old Rumia. The one who was active when your powers were sealed away."

Rumia smiled. There was actual kindness behind it, and Yukari felt that she'd guessed right. "Is it that obvious?"

"The Rumia I've dealt with for these past few days never would've been able to fake that level of sincerity. No matter how clever she thinks she is." Yukari noted that Rumia's facial expression seemed to twitch slightly, but only briefly. "The other one is still in there, isn't she?"

"Yes... but I don't think she... knows _quite_ why I'm here," Rumia said, and she cast her eyes aside in thought. If the other Rumia was deep in her mind somewhere, waiting to take hold, it must've taken a considerable amount of effort to keep her at bay. "But I knew if I wanted to get this done, it'd have to be now. While I still had the strength to keep her dormant."

"I have a feeling I know what's happened. That seal I put on you must have split your personality. It's probably due to the amount of time you were sealed that resulted in the drastic division between your two selves." When Yukari had placed the seal on Rumia in the first place, she had never expected this sort of result. She'd been given the ribbon by another, who had assured her that it was powerful enough to keep Rumia's powers at a decidedly pitiful level, should she actually manage to place it on Rumia in the first place. Yukari did not know what had powered the seal, nor what it would do to Rumia's mind, except that it would put a damper on her intelligence as well. But to go to such lengths as splitting her personality in two... "I'm sure I can guess what it is you came to ask me. You want me to try and eliminate your other personality, or put her into a completely dormant state?"

"N-no! No, nothing like _that!"_ This surprised Yukari, but she remained silent, so that Rumia could continue. "She has just as much right to exist as I do! Probably more, I guess, since she _was_ here first. And I know Kana would be really upset if I had you do that."

"I doubt it's within the scope of my power to be able to eliminate her from your mind, anyway. My abilities have never had much of an effect on you, for whatever reason." Yukari had her suspicions as to why this might've been, but even now, a thousand years later, she would not allow her mind to drift off to think of the circumstances that had led to the day she'd obtained her powers. Yukari knew Rumia wanted _something,_ however, but it would be difficult to determine if the limits on her own abilities would even allow it. That was yet to be seen. "Then tell me, Rumia. What _do_ you want from me? I'd rather not waste both of our time, while your other self is still dormant."

"I don't want to just... _destroy_ my other self. But I don't want to be stuck sharing this same body with her," Rumia explained, gesturing down at herself as she did. Yukari suspected now just what Rumia wanted, but she didn't bother interrupting the girl. "I was wondering, if... it could be possible for you to split us into separate bodies."

"You're asking me to create _two_ Rumias, that would now be free to roam about Gensokyo, doing as they please," Yukari replied. "It's not just a matter of whether or not I _can_ pull it off, although I imagine that if you both go along with this willingly, I probably could. It would be highly irresponsible of me to allow more than one Rumia to have free reign over Gensokyo, when one was bad enough."

"I guess so, but... you do believe me, right Yukari?" Rumia stared up at Yukari, with the utmost sincerity. The difference in her expression compared to that _other_ Rumia was almost startlingly wide. Even if Yukari had wanted to will herself into believing that this was that same Rumia, she would've had a hard time pulling it off.

"Yes, Rumia. I suppose I do believe you. I can't imagine any scenario where you'd lie to me about this, when you could just as easily kill me before I'd have the chance to refuse."

"Well... there is one thing that might be able to sway you," Rumia smiled, and this time, there _was_ a bit of the mischievous nature of that other Rumia in it. "If the other me decides to go on another rampage, well... you might feel safer knowing that there was another Rumia capable of standing against her."

Yukari chuckled briefly, and she returned Rumia's smile. "Frankly, I might actually be more terrified of you if _both_ of your selves were to merge into one." And if the more _evil_ Rumia were to take over again, and she actually liked the idea of having separate bodies, Yukari didn't want to be around knowing that she'd rejected the proposal. "Alright, Rumia. I'll do what I can."

"Oh, thank you!" Suddenly, Rumia jumped up and threw her arms around Yukari's shoulders, hugging the woman tightly, taking the gap youkai by surprise. Rumia sensed Yukari's unease and released her quickly enough, while laughing nervously. "Eheh, sorry about that... I was just a little bit excited."

"I noticed." Yukari brushed her hand along her shoulder and down her arm, smoothing out where her dress had been disturbed by Rumia's sudden embrace. "Then I'd rather get this over with quickly. You seem eager enough, and both Ran and Chen would surely feel safer knowing you were gone as soon as possible."

Rumia didn't reply to this, but there was something in her expression that suggested that some part of her may have been mildly hurt by the thought that they still feared her. Even if it was, after all, an entirely separate aspect of her personality that had instigated this fear. Rumia simply shook her head, and lifted her arms out for a short moment. "I'm ready, then. Do what you can, Yukari."

"We shall see," replied Yukari. She closed her eyes, and she reached one arm out to grab hold of Rumia's shoulder. She could feel the natural resistance that her body continued to put against her powers, or perhaps, it was her powers that simply would not act upon Rumia so easily. Whichever of the two it was, that resistance seemed to be greatly lessened by Rumia's force of will, allowing her defenses to be breached.

In that instant, a temptation crept into Yukari's mind. With Rumia standing before her now, defenses lowered and with her darker personality dormant, Yukari would have the perfect opportunity to rid the world of Rumia once and for all. She would never be able to take Rumia down in a fair fight (not while Rumia's defenses were up), and that ribbon she'd been sealed with had imparted Rumia with a kind of immortality that prevented Yukari from finishing the job she'd started. And would anyone in Gensokyo think less of Yukari for ripping Rumia's mind from her body, and disposing of both as she saw fit? Perhaps they might, but they wouldn't have to know, either. She would perhaps incur Kana's wrath in the aftermath, and that poltergeist was dangerous in her own right, as there was no telling how she might react to Rumia's disappearance.

Yukari opened her eyes once more, and stared down at Rumia, whose own eyes were closed. She trusted Yukari with her life at that moment, and she had no idea just what Yukari had been contemplating. She wondered, could she really kill Rumia, knowing that her good half would likewise be destroyed? _Yes,_ Yukari realized, _I could._

But she didn't.

She would have had no objections to killing both Rumias, good or evil, and not lose any sleep over her decision. No, it was that she simply doubted her ability to pull it off. Rumia's defenses were down, but that little bit of resistance was more than enough to prevent Yukari from killing Rumia in a single instant. And that little bit of delay would be _more_ than enough to raise the _evil_ Rumia to high alert, at which point she would no doubt kill not only Yukari, but Ran, Chen, Reimu, and anyone else she could think of that Yukari might have had any connection to. No, it simply wasn't worth the risk to her own well-being.

Yukari had to employ all of her strength to breach through Rumia's body and mind. She could feel both of those personalities lying inside of their shared mind; the kindly, innocent one who had approached Yukari that day, and the calculating, vicious mentality of the one who had caused her so much trouble. And they could both sense her, as well. They sensed the intruding presence of the gap youkai who sought to tear the two apart from each other for the first time, and neither attempted to intervene. For once, the two seemed to be in agreement about something.

Yukari placed her other hand, the other _physical_ one, on Rumia's other shoulder. Inside of their joint consciousness, which Yukari's own now briefly inhabited by manipulating the border of body and mind, her _mental_ hands each found one of the two Rumias. These two were much easier to pull apart, Yukari found, as they did so willingly. She had forced each of the two to one side of their shared body, but Yukari's _physical_ hands were pulling Rumia at either shoulder. At that moment, if the two were to reject Yukari's presence, they would probably be stuck this way, with the dark Rumia controlling the left half of their body, and the good Rumia on the right; their minds no longer connected, but each acting independently within the same body.

Finally, when Yukari began to suspect that Rumia's body just wouldn't give, she felt her arms begin to pull apart from each other. Rumia's body glowed down the middle, and there was a sense of _doubling out_ like staring at a bizarre sort of trick mirror or rippling effect. With one last push, the two Rumias, now of separate identical bodies, were pushed apart from each other, and sent sprawling to the floor on opposite ends of the room. Yukari stumbled backward onto her bed, and was forced to sit down. She hadn't felt this kind of exhaustion since the day she'd fought Rumia and sealed her powers away. The amount of energy it had taken to separate the two Rumias was almost unfathomable.

Both Rumias were stirring on the floor, disoriented from the act of being ejected from their shared body so violently, and into brand new ones. The 'evil' Rumia was the first to get to her feet, and she stared first at her hands, followed by the rest of her body, then down at the other Rumia, and then finally, over at Yukari. She scowled darkly at the gap youkai, saying nothing. She clenched her hands into fists, and unclenched them again, doing this several times, as though testing the muscles in her 'new' body.

"Are you satisfied now, Rumia?" Yukari asked. "Now you won't have to deal with anyone else in your mind actually trying to _stop_ your evil acts."

Rumia grunted slightly, which was the only acknowledge that she'd even been listening. She said nothing to Yukari, not even a single word of thanks, before she vanished back into the shadows she claimed dominion over.

"I know she won't say it, but she really _is_ grateful for what you've done for us," the other Rumia said, as she stumbled to her feet a bit more shakily than her counterpart had. "And I am, too. Far more than you could ever realize!"

"I don't care much for her thanks," Yukari replied, closing her eyes as she sighed in exhaustion. "Just be sure that you fulfill your end of the bargain. That you keep her from causing any more trouble."

"I will, I promise." Rumia stared up, not really at anything in particular, and broke out into a wide smile. "My mind has never felt so clear in all my life... There's no one else in there to mess with my thoughts, or conflict with my memories... and nothing sealing away my thoughts, either, like that ribbon you put on us." Rumia turned her attention back to Yukari. "Thank you again, Yukari. I really mean it. I know it must have been hard on you, spending all that energy to pull us apart. And not just that, either." Rumia continued to give off that warm smile, completely disarming in its genuine sweetness. "I know you must've been considering trying to kill me. That's what the other me seemed to think, anyway, and I think she was right. But I should still thank you for letting us both live."

"She never would've let me get that far. Otherwise I would have done it." There was no point in lying, not to _this_ Rumia anyway, who it seemed would take no offense to Yukari's honesty. Her smile never faltered, even when Yukari admitted this. "Leave me, now. I'm tired, and I want to rest."

Rumia nodded, and like her counterpart, vanished into the shadows before Yukari's very eyes. The gap youkai fell backward onto the bed, with no real attempt to make herself comfortable. She was too tired, even for that. She supposed that she still had business to discuss with Ran, but that could wait. It was the last thing to run through her mind, before she slipped off into her long sleep. She probably wouldn't bother waking for several more days.


	7. Chapter 7: Yuuka

**Chapter 7: Yuuka**

* * *

Yuuka was not one to put baseless faith into the predictions of one woman, particularly one who claimed to receive visions of the future. Despite living most of her recent life in a land of magic, where just about anything was possible, and originating from the world of dreams, which existed merely on the border of reality itself, Yuuka did not believe that the future could be so easily foretold. This was a belief that she was particularly adamant about when these visions of the future began to concern her _own_ fate. She didn't like feeling as though her life was being governed by some outside force; be it time, this so-called Void, or perhaps some higher god that existed outside of her realm of knowledge.

She supposed that if anyone would know the validity of Mima's claims, it would be the two oldest living denizens of the Dream World. The twins, Mugetsu and Gengetsu. Unfortunately, neither were known for being particularly cooperative. This was something with which Yuuka had had first-hand experience during her younger years.

Yuuka had been born a dream youkai, much like the twins themselves, and lived in the Dream World for countless years (time had a way of feeling _unreliable_ within the Dream World, even if it did only flow in one direction), until the day she'd ventured forth and claimed Mugenkan for her own. As a dream youkai, Yuuka could have been immortal. All the dream youkai lived forever, unless their lives were cut short by some manner of accident or conflict, and those were few and far between in the Dream World. That was, unless they _left_ the Dream World, and ventured beyond the walls of Mugenkan, which acted as a border between worlds. Life in the Dream World had grown tiresome for Yuuka very quickly, and despite the warnings of her so-called 'sisters', she'd wandered out into Gensokyo.

Though she hadn't been aware of it at the time, the moment she'd stepped through the front doors of Mugenkan, her immortality had been taken away forever.

Despite the loss of her immortality, Yuuka had never felt more alive than she had during those several decades following her departure. All of her strength as a dream youkai had been retained, and she was unquestionably one of the most powerful youkai in Japan. Many even _feared_ her, and it was a feeling that she grew to enjoy very quickly. During her years in the surrounding area of what would become Gensokyo, Yuuka met many prominent youkai and goddesses, and others who would come to impact her later life. Among them included Mima, the moon goddess Selena, Kurumi and Elly, who she recruited as servants, Yukari Yakumo, and of course, that fabled youkai seeress who was now the cause of so much irritation.

Yukari had even tried to recruit Yuuka for her expedition to the moon, to take part in her pointless Lunar War. In those days, Yukari's powers had been newly obtained, and she thought herself _better_ than the Lunarians. Yet her forces had been utterly wiped out, and she returned to Gensokyo, humiliated. Yuuka had also been aware of Rumia, and the rampage that she had gone on during Yukari's absence, but she'd felt no desire to intervene. Yuuka thought of Rumia as nothing more than a mad dog who would eventually burn herself out when her madness got the better of her.

Yuuka's second mistake (the first being leaving Mugenkan in the first place) had been to respond to Yukari's plea for help. She'd practically _begged_ for it, and it was almost so pathetic that Yuuka couldn't help but agree. Her _biggest_ mistake had been to believe that she still retained her immortality.

Perhaps the battle may have gone more in their favor if Yukari hadn't been so _useless._ Yukari claimed that her powers had no effect on Rumia, and perhaps it was true, but Yuuka also suspected that Yukari had hoped to use Yuuka more as bait to distract Rumia with, rather than as someone to help subdue the crazed darkness youkai. In the course of the battle, Yuuka suffered what would have undoubtedly been fatal wounds for a normal youkai, forcing her to retreat back into the Dream World. She had hoped that returning to her original home might have restored her immortality, but that had been the wish of a desperate woman on the verge of death, nothing based in actual fact.

Yuuka slept off her wounds for nearly a thousand years, and her body had recovered, but she knew that she was no longer an immortal dream youkai, nor would she ever be again. How Gengetsu had actually _mocked_ her about the stupidity of the notion when she'd awoken had just been salt in the wounds. It was part of the reason why she'd never returned to the Dream World again until today.

Gengetsu was presumably the oldest living resident of the Dream World, with her younger twin sister Mugetsu being the closest behind. The two claimed to have even created the Dream World, and there was perhaps some validity to their claim. More likely the Dream World had come into existence on its own, and both Gengetsu and Mugetsu with it at the same time, with other dream youkai following as the years went by. Gengetsu was easily, to Yuuka at least, one of the most infuriating individuals she'd ever had the displeasure of meeting. She was also perhaps one of the most powerful. If a fight were to somehow break out between Gengetsu and Rumia, Yuuka might have been inclined to bet on Gengetsu.

Mugetsu wasn't quite as bad, but she was oddly subservient to her elder sister, even going so far as to dress herself as a maid, even though she was not _truly_ her sister's subordinate. Yuuka never bothered to call her out on it, suspecting there was something bizarrely sexual and fetishistic behind it that she simply did _not_ want to know about.

Mugetsu and Gengetsu could see much from their position in the Dream World, things that Yuuka herself had never been privy to. She didn't think that they could see the future, not quite, but she felt certain that they knew more than they ever let on. Certainly they could see events transpiring in Gensokyo that Yuuka hadn't been witness to, and probably even as far as the Outside World. The last time she'd spoken with them, Gengetsu seemed to know far more about the exact details of Yukari's Lunar invasion than should have ever been possible without her actually being there. They always did have a habit of knowing far more than Yuuka was comfortable with, and it was only ever as a last resort that she would seek their advice.

Now, after more than ten years, Yuuka had ventured into the Dream World once again.

There was a fair amount of talk among the lesser dream youkai that saw Yuuka as she passed by. It must've been some news, seeing her return after so long. By now, the twins surely would have been made aware of her arrival and purpose. "You can both show yourselves," Yuuka said, once she'd made her way past all the random onlookers. "I know you're out there, watching me."

"Well Yuuka, it's been a long time. I can't help but be curious." Mugetsu appeared in front of Yuuka, almost certainly from whatever hiding place she'd been watching from, still dressed in that idiotic maid outfit of hers, as usual. She bowed to Yuuka, in a manner that was entirely false modesty, and it only served to irritate Yuuka further. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your return?"

"You can cut your fake maid nonsense with me, Mugetsu," Yuuka replied curtly, but Mugetsu was unfazed. She merely smiled in return at Yuuka. "Where's your brat of an older sister? Or am I really so fortunate to only need to bear your company today?"

"You don't need to be so harsh, Yuuka. Is that really how you want to greet us after so _rudely_ leaving us for all these years~?" Gengetsu then appeared next beside her sister, spreading her pristine white angelic wings off to either side behind her. For every bit of false modesty that Mugetsu might show, Yuuka knew she'd likely get an equal amount of sass and caginess from her elder twin. "Or are you still sore about how badly Rumia trashed you, that you're in a permanently sour mood? Oh wait, maybe it's because I hurt your feelings when you came crawling back after that.~"

"I'm not in the mood for your bullshit, Gengetsu," Yuuka began, "I don't know how much you two know about everything that's been happening lately, but-"

"And to think, we had actually planned a celebration for you, on account of your becoming a mother," Mugetsu spoke, interrupting Yuuka with a coy smile.

"Well, we were going to hold one the _first_ time, when Miasma was born, but we knew you wouldn't show up. Especially when you didn't even know that she'd been born at all.~" Yuuka was speechless as the two dream youkai started taunting her with the very details of her own life. Gengetsu's lips parted into a toothy, mocking grin. "That was so heartless of you, Yuuka. Leaving that poor little doll to raise your daughter all by herself. Maybe if you hadn't been so cruel, she'd still be alive.~"

Mugetsu feigned an expression of surprise at her sister's brash accusations. "Oh, now sister! I'm _sure_ that our Yuuka would never be so cruel as to let an innocent girl get murdered on purpose."

"And why wouldn't she, dear Mugetsu?" Gengetsu replied, before casting her gaze back toward Yuuka. "She raped that poor girl right there, out in the open, and abandoned her to raise their daughter all alone. I'm surprised she didn't kill little Medicine after she was done the first time. She certainly would have spared Rumia the trouble."

"Enough, Gengetsu!" Being reminded of the fact that she'd been at least indirectly responsible for Medicine's death managed to snap Yuuka out of the daze she'd fallen into. She hadn't cared for Medicine much at all, but the manner in which Gengetsu had brought it up was infuriating enough to illicit a reaction. "I'm not here to listen to you berate me about what I did to one girl all those years ago."

"You know, sister, it's truly a shame. I don't think Yuuka _wants_ us to throw a party to celebrate her induction into motherhood," Mugetsu said, abruptly changing the subject before Yuuka could get to the point she was trying to make. "And we still have all these decorations. Perhaps we should throw a birthday party for Hana instead?"

"Oh, that sounds like _fun~!"_ Gengetsu replied, clapping her hands together in delight. "And to think, we've never even met the poor dear. Or Miasma for that matter, either.~ You really should bring them here, Yuuka. It'll be the most delightful party she could ever hope for!"

"Absolutely not!" Yuuka shouted in defiance. "I will certainly _not_ be dragging my daughters here to meet the likes of you two. Especially not for some idiotic party! I only came here to-"

"Oh, dear, Yuuka doesn't seem to like the idea of introducing us, now does she?" Mugetsu reclined backwards, hovering in the empty space and crossing her legs, while resting her chin on the palm of her hand. She affected a troubled expression, although the mischievous light in her eyes gave away no indication of any sincerity.

"Same old grumpy Yuuka.~" Gengetsu taunted. "Won't even let us meet her broken little family."

"She has nothing to be embarrassed about," Mugetsu replied, in a mockingly sweet tone. "It's only natural that a broken family would come about from a broken youkai like Yuuka."

"Oh! Here's a thought, Mugetsu.~ If Yuuka won't bring Hana to us, like the grumpy little fuck-up that she is, why don't we just go to Mugenkan ourselves~?" Gengetsu leaned forward, drifting lazily on her stomach in the empty air. She grabbed hold of the base of Mugetsu's skirt, and tugged it up lightly. "You'd fit right in with the maid staff.~"

The younger twin clapped her palms to her cheeks, staring at Gengetsu with comically wide eyes, and with a bit of a flirtatiousness. "Oh, _no,_ we couldn't, sister.~" Mugetsu said, with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"I swear, if you two set one foot-" Yuuka started, before she was quickly cut off by Gengetsu.

"But isn't turnabout fair play? After all, she came barging into _our_ home just now, didn't she? This world is no more hers to call her own than Mugenkan is for us, right? Riiiiight~?"

"Invasion of property," Mugetsu stated matter-of-factly, echoing her sister's point. "In fact, Mugenkan was also _our_ property long before Yuuka claimed it." Mugetsu spoke this last point with a hint of boredom, and had taken to inspecting her nails now, seemingly abandoning all pretense of her proper maid act. "You are right, sister, as always. There's simply nothing to be done about it but to get even."

"I don't want to be here any more than you want me here," Yuuka said, when she finally had the chance to speak without interruption. "And as soon as my business here is done, I intend to never step foot in this world again."

"Oh, I doubt that," Mugetsu replied in that same disinterested tone, without even looking Yuuka in the eyes. "Even if we tell you what you came here to learn, we know that you'll be back again eventually."

"There's still _so_ much that you don't know about, Yuuka!" Gengetsu couldn't seem to help but to laugh at the confusion that had spread across Yuuka's expression. "It's kind of sad, actually! If you knew everything that we did, you'd probably _never_ have left the Dream World!"

"I may have been nearly killed at the hands of Rumia all those years ago, but even after everything I've been through, knowing that my immortality is gone forever, I would still _never_ return to this place now. Even if it _would_ restore my immortality, a death at the hands of someone like Rumia would still be superior to life with you two."

"Oh, to think that you would hate us so!" Mugetsu exclaimed, clapping a hand to her forehead in an overly dramatized fashion. "Even though we brought you from the brink of death when you returned to us, even after you abandoned our world, despite our warnings!"

"There are worse things than Rumia in that world of yours, Yuuka.~" Gengetsu said, not stooping to her younger twin's theatrics. "But you would _know_ that, if you paid any attention to that prophecy of yours, or if you could even remember what _really_ happened over the last few days in your world.~"

"So you _do_ know about that prophecy, then. Does this mean that Mima was right?" Yuuka noticed Mugetsu and Gengetsu briefly share a look of mild concern. "So Rumia really _is_ the daughter of Mima and Selena. And this seeress really did predict Hana's birth."

"Oh, now look what you've done, sister." Mugetsu sighed, and shook her head. "You went and let her figure out that the seeress was right about everything!"

"Oh my, I'm _dreadfully_ sorry, Mugetsu.~" Gengetsu hid her grin daintily behind the tips of her fingers. "How irresponsible of me to let our estranged Yuuka in on our secrets. I forgot that we weren't supposed to let her know what happened.~"

"I'm done playing your games," Yuuka growled out from between her teeth. "What did you mean when you said there were worse things than Rumia? And I know exactly what's been happening the last few days. Rumia nearly destroyed the shrine with help from that poltergeist friend of hers, and then she was defeated in Makai by Reimu and her friends."

"She really _did_ forget everything!" Gengetsu burst out into a fit of laughter. "Well, if you don't even remember _that_ much, then I wouldn't be able to tell you even if I wanted to!"

"Then that means _everyone_ in Gensokyo forgot, as well," Mugetsu said, maintaining the composure that her sister could not. She smiled, as a certain realization dawned upon her. "Then _she_ neglected to wipe the memories of those of us who reside outside of Gensokyo. Isn't that fortunate for us, sister?"

"What the _hell_ are you babbling on about? People getting their memories of _what_ erased?" Yuuka had only ventured into the Dream World to learn the truth behind Rumia's parentage, and perhaps to confirm the validity of her own role in this supposed prophecy. While she'd learned that much, she was now being taunted by some _new_ form of potential information about something perhaps even _more_ dangerous than Rumia. "I'm done with your cagey bullshit! Give me some proper answers!"

"Tsk tsk, Yuuka.~ You know better than to make demands around me." Gengetsu raised her hand, her palm facing the former dream youkai. "You don't want to go crawling back to Mugenkan with one fewer limb than you left with, do you~?"

Mugetsu uttered a sharp gasp, which Yuuka could tell was purely for show. "Sister! You wouldn't _really,_ would you?"

"That's up to our dear Yuuka, now isn't it?" Gengetsu's wings were spread out to either side now, and her hand crackled with a reddish energy. Her grin spread wide into a bloodthirsty expression that could have rivaled Rumia at her worst, without question. "Of course, if you believed what I said about what's lying in wait out in that world of yours, well... death at my hand might be preferable, right? How about it, Yuuka? Should I spare you the suffering, or let you slink back home to face your fate~?"

Yuuka wasn't sure if she could believe what Gengetsu had been saying about what might lie in the future, but she was certain that Gengetsu could kill her with no trouble if she was in the mood to do it. Trying to pry more information out of Gengetsu now would only assure her own inevitable demise. "Fine," Yuuka replied, finally. "If you're not going to give me an answer, then I'm not going to keep asking. I already got what I came here for."

"I'm sure you'll be back eventually, Yuuka," Mugetsu said, as Yuuka turned away to leave. "There's still so much more that you'll want to know."

"Maybe eventually, I'll even feel like telling you.~" Gengetsu said, perhaps to get some sort of rise out of Yuuka. But when Yuuka did not react, Gengetsu added, "Bring your darling daughters with you next time, Yuuka dear.~ We would so love to meet them.~"

Yuuka flinched slightly in disgust at the mere thought of it, but she did not turn to address the twins directly. If she were lucky, she felt that she would never need to see either of them again in her remaining life. "If I have even the tiniest modicum of love for my daughters, then I will be sure that they never have the misfortune of _ever_ meeting you two."


	8. Chapter 8: Shinki

**Chapter 8: Shinki**

* * *

Rumia had returned to Makai earlier that evening, but she had not returned to Pandaemonium. Instead, she had gone back to Kana, to the far reaches of Makai that had once been Hokkai (they had tried to hide their location from Shinki's eyes, but it hadn't exactly worked). Shinki wouldn't admit it out loud, but inside she had been utterly devastated. Alice and Yumeko both knew that it must have had a profound effect on the Makai goddess, but she would not say so.

She was happy for Kana, at least. She knew that she cared for Rumia ( _her_ Rumia), in a way not unlike the way Shinki did. Though she doubted Kana realized it just yet. But she was also immensely envious of the troublesome poltergeist. She'd stolen Rumia away from her, when she'd been Shinki's first. Not just the so-called 'evil' Rumia, but _both_ Rumias; because Kana must have enabled the 'evil' Rumia to win out. Why else would she have gone to Kana without a word to Shinki?

Shinki supposed she could have taken Rumia back by force. She was more than powerful enough to wipe Kana from existence, now that she knew what to expect in terms of her abilities. But what would that truly accomplish? It would only anger the half of Rumia that was now in control, and almost certainly drive her _own_ Rumia deeper into the subconscious mind of the enraged one that held dominion of their shared body.

"I'm sure this is for the best, Lady Shinki," Yumeko said, in a rather poor attempt at comfort. "You _know_ that she was unstable. Even if she was to return to Pandaemonium as she was before, who's to say she wouldn't have reverted back the next day? Or the one after that?"

"There's still a chance that she could come back, mother," Alice added in, and Shinki had to smile back at the girl. She did not think that Alice had quite forgiven Rumia for her actions of the last several weeks, but that hatred in her mind had begun to diminish, Shinki could sense that much. It was good. She did not want to blame Rumia for the sadness she now felt, and she didn't want Alice or Yumeko to do the same.

"Perhaps both of you are right," Shinki said with a soft sigh. She was trying to sound as sincere as possible, but it was hard to hide one's true feelings in such a moment of sadness. "My time with Rumia was wonderful, even if it was short. I was happier than I'd been in years." Shinki tried to smile, but it came across as forced. She didn't need to see the looks on Alice and Yumeko's faces to know that much. "I feel as though maybe I can finish what I started, by rebuilding Makai."

Shinki had started the arduous task of restoring Makai to its former glory, in the days before Yuuka and Mima had wiped out a large portion of its population, with Rumia by her side. This had been in the several months between the day when Shinki had removed Rumia's seal, and the day that Rumia vanished into the depths of Makai, where she'd met Kana. Shinki did not know for sure if Rumia's personality shift had come first, or if it had been Kana that instigated it, but regardless of the truth of the matter, Shinki had made no further progress since the day of Rumia's disappearance. Despite her claim that she would continue now, her motivation was not what it was. It would be difficult to move forward, especially after everything that had happened. Her claim was little more than a lie to ease the worried minds of Alice and Yumeko.

Shinki leaned back in her throne and closed her eyes, staring upward. Alice and Yumeko began to talk amongst themselves, but Shinki hadn't been listening, as she drifted lost among her own thoughts. Nor was she initially aware when the conversation in the room had ceased, plunging it into an uneasy silence.

"... Shinki...?" The voice that spoke was one that Shinki had begun to think she would never hear again. Her eyes shot open, and she stared across her throne room at the new arrival. It was no wonder that Alice and Yumeko had lapsed into their current stunned silence. Shinki at first almost hadn't recognized the woman that stood before her now. Her manner of dress was much more modest, and her hair had been cut shorter, to about the same length as it had been prior to the removal of her seal, but it was undoubtedly Rumia.

"R... Rumia..." Shinki stammered out, and she stood shakily from her throne. She had lapsed into such a resigned state that seeing Rumia now, (and she had no doubt that it was _her_ Rumia), the goddess had been rendered almost entirely speechless.

Rumia smiled, and gave a single nod of her head. "I'm... I'm sorry I made you wait. I didn't want to say what I was doing, in case it wouldn't work." Rumia held her arms out to either side of her body, as though showing herself off. And in a way, that was essentially the truth of it. "Yukari was able to split the two of us into separate bodies. We're our _own_ people now, not just two sharing one body. She can be with Kana, and... I can be with you. For good, this time."

Shinki could no longer contain herself. She would've been happy enough just for Rumia to have returned of her own will, even if just for one day, within that formerly shared body of theirs. But this was better than the Makai Goddess ever could have hoped for. She ran forward to the good Rumia and embraced her tightly, even lifting the shorter woman an inch or two up from the floor in the process. "Oh, Rumia...! That's wonderful news!" Shinki peppered Rumia's face with several quick kisses, ending with one directly on the surprised youkai's lips. "Where've you been all this time, then? The other Rumia came back to Makai a few hours ago..."

"Oh, hahah, well... I thought it might be awkward, if there were two of us running around that looked exactly the same, so..." Rumia brushed one hand through the shortened locks of her hair, and gently pushed them out toward her shoulder. "Part of me just wanted to make sure it was possible to tell us apart at a glance, but... I also did it for myself, too. Like... it's more of a symbolic thing, I think. Because I _feel_ like a different person now."

"You look more beautiful than ever, Rumia," Shinki said, and the two embraced once more, standing this way until Yumeko broke the silence that had fallen between them.

"I'm glad that you're happy, Lady Shinki, but... are you _sure_ that there are really two Rumias in Makai now? It seems a bit far-fetched to me."

"I'm certain that my Rumia is telling the truth, Yumeko. You don't always need to be so overprotective." Shinki smiled back at Yumeko nonetheless, ensuring that she did not hold the woman's suspicions against her. "I can still sense Rumia and Kana's presences in the far reaches of Makai, just as I can feel _my_ Rumia, here in my arms right this moment."

"Let it go, Yumeko," Alice said, placing a hand on the demon maid's shoulder. There was a sort of calm resignation in Alice's features that did not exactly seem unhappy. "Mother is happy. Happier than I've seen her since I was a child. If Rumia can make that much of a difference in her life... then I think we can both try to forget what happened."

"Yumeko... Alice..." Rumia, still held in Shinki's arms, turned to face both of Shinki's 'children', both her true creation, and the one she'd adopted so many years before. "I can't say for sure what my other self will do from here. And I'll even take part of the blame for everything she did up until now. But I _promise,_ I'll never do anything to hurt Shinki again. You have my word on that."

Yumeko stared down the Darkness Youkai (who in truth, was not a youkai at all, but a phantom goddess) that had grown so close to her very own creator; her mother. She still had her reservations, but nothing she could do or say would change things now, she realized. "Alright, Rumia," Yumeko sighed out. "I will do my best to start anew with you, and forget everything that you've done. But I will have my eye on you."

"As long as you keep mother happy, I won't argue," Alice added.

"Thank you, Yumeko... and you too, Alice." Rumia smiled at them both, and then turned back to Shinki. "We can still pick up where we left off, right?"

"Of course, Rumia," Shinki replied, caressing a hand gently against the other woman's cheek. Any doubt whatsoever that may have lingered in Shinki's mind vanished when she looked down into Rumia's eyes at that moment. There was no hint of the _other_ Rumia's foreign malignancy to taint the innocence in those eyes. It was all the motivation that Shinki needed, to know that she could finish that task that she had started all those long months ago. "Let's rebuild Makai, together."

* * *

 _ **End of Part 1**_


	9. Chapter 9: Rumia (I)

**Part 2: Changing Times**

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Rumia (I)**

* * *

The recent weeks in both Gensokyo and Makai had been remarkably uneventful. Especially in light of the fact that there were now two separate Rumias living in Makai, thanks to the efforts of Yukari Yakumo, and the earnest request of the 'good' Rumia.

The so-called 'evil' Rumia had returned to Makai first, where she subsequently isolated herself in the remote regions of the demon world with Kana. The two hadn't been seen in Gensokyo at all since then, and even Shinki knew little of where the two had secluded themselves off to, or what they were doing with themselves.

The other Rumia, who eventually decided to go by the name 'Rumi', in order to differentiate herself, still remained at Pandaemonium with Shinki. Although she had not ventured into Gensokyo on more than a few occasions herself, the separation of the two Rumias had become relatively common knowledge. While the people of Gensokyo, Reimu and Miasma being among the most vocal of these, were apprehensive about the existence of two Rumias, all of them were happy to be free of the 'evil' Rumia's presence for the time being.

Almost a month had passed since Gensokyo had been restored to its proper state by The Voidborn, and life slowly returned to normal. For the many that had not encountered Rumia personally, or who knew nothing of either Lilith or The Voidborn, it was as though nothing had happened at all, compared to the usual string of incidents that were common in a land like Gensokyo.

Despite this carefree change of mood that had taken hold, Rumia had not simply vanished from existence, as many had hoped. She still resided in the darkest depths of Makai, concealed from even Shinki's prying eyes by the combined magic of Kana's and her own. It was there that the two had built a makeshift home for themselves, with Kana prying apart many of the ruined buildings out of the abandoned areas of Makai to use in the construction of their so-called house. The end result was, unsurprisingly, a complete mess of a building that fit quite in line with Kana's usual tastes. It wasn't entirely unlike what she had done to Shinki's fortress, just on a smaller scale.

Kana's initial overjoyed reaction to Rumia's return, and the subsequent excitement that she'd put into the construction of their residence, had been enough to keep things interesting for the first few days. With nothing else to occupy her time, however, Rumia rapidly slipped into a state of utter boredom.

With recent events still fresh in mind, another 'just for fun' murderous rampage was entirely out of the question. Reimu and her friends were on to Rumia's abilities by now, and would be fully capable of grouping together to stop her, should it come down to that. And, of course, she would run the risk of a repeat appearance by The Voidborn. Rumia doubted that she would be quite so generous a second time around.

Ultimately, the knowledge of her own defeat had been equally discouraging. Like Reimu and the few others that had been privy to knowledge of The Voidborn and the true history of events, Rumia had memories of both instances of her 'final battle'; two histories in which she had either been killed or defeated in battle. Her desire for revenge had waned, and she felt stagnated in her boredom. As a result, she'd spent the most recent several weeks doing little more than passing the time either terrifying the occasional stray Makai demon that came too close to her territory (and even this grew boring after the first week), or killing the day away with mindlessly depraved sex with Kana.

"This place is a fucking bore," Rumia remarked, after one such session. The two were lying in their bed (which, like most of their possessions, had been stolen from elsewhere in Makai) in relative silence since they had finished, when Rumia had spoken up.

"You sure didn't seem bored a minute ago.~" Kana replied, lifting her head up from Rumia's chest, which she'd been resting against. "If you got any rougher we might've needed to steal a new bed.~"

"You're the one who broke the first two by throwing them off the roof. Idiot." Kana responded to this by nuzzling her cheek against Rumia's. "Stop that."

"No.~"

"I hate you," Rumia grunted out.

"You do not.~" Kana did stop nonetheless at this point, and instead sat up on top of the other woman, straddling her waist. "We could go again, if it makes you feel better.~"

"You'd just make a bigger mess. I told you to stop using the chocolate syrup in bed." Kana shrugged her shoulders, as carefree as ever. Rumia merely glared.

"Well, fine! Grumpy butt. What do _you_ want to do?" Kana asked, as she flopped forward, back onto Rumia's chest.

"Something other than just wasting our time _here_ doing nothing." Even had she been able to do so freely, Rumia wasn't particularly feeling the desire for another rampage. If she'd wanted to do that, there was an entire outside world at her disposal, and she doubted there were many outside of Gensokyo that could even come close to her level of strength. She would be relatively unopposed. For that some reason though, the outside world would just be equally boring. "Leaving Makai and Gensokyo would just be a waste of time. I doubt there's anything out there worth the effort of finding."

"Well..." Kana started, drifting off into her own little world of thought. She remained silent for coming up on a full minute, and Rumia had just begun to think that Kana had spaced out completely, before she finally spoke again. "We should go back to Gensokyo! We could just go around and mess with people, like I used to do to Reimu when I'd go possess her shrine.~"

"Oh, really now...? You never told me this," Rumia said, her interest now sufficiently piqued. "Mm... tormenting Reimu _does_ sound like it could be interesting. It's not _really_ causing trouble if I'm not actually trying to murder her, now is it~?"

"Of course not! I used to do that sorta thing all the time, and no one ever really cared.~" Although Kana casually left out the fact that Reimu had tried to violently exorcise her from the Hakurei Shrine on numerous occasions, but who was counting? Certainly not Kana.

"Oh, then what the hell are we waiting around here for?" Rumia licked her lips as she sat up, inadvertently sending Kana sprawling off the bed. Kana simply fell off with a careless smile, and drifted up into the air before she'd hit the floor.

"Dunno! I got this though, don't worry.~" Kana conjured up a small orb of Void energy in her hand, which she tossed into the air, generating a small portal through which the two could pass through. "Well come on, let's go~!" Kana said, grasping Rumia's hand, as the two were then whisked away through the portal she'd created.

* * *

 **\- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o -**

* * *

While Gensokyo's current state of relative peace (which was in recent days broken only by that troublesome Seija Kijin) may have been boring to the likes of Rumia and Kana, it was entirely welcome to the rest of its residents. Even before Rumia's unsealing, Gensokyo had just been coming off of a long string of incidents that had been (mostly inadvertently) caused by the appearance of the Moriya Shrine. Rumia's rampage, as awful as it was, had at least marked the end of the long period of turmoil.

Sanae and the gods of the Moriya Shrine were especially grateful for this. If anything good were to come out of it, Sanae thought, as she finished carrying in her supplies from the Human Village, Rumia would have at least mitigated the slightly negative reputation that the Moriya Shrine had gained since its arrival. With things having calmed down, Kanako had even considered renewing talks with the kappa about trying to remodel the underground nuclear reactor. Despite Kanako's best efforts at trying to work with Utsuho, her efforts at generating efficient amounts of energy from the reactor had been unsuccessful.

With everything she'd brought in now put away into the shrine's storage, Sanae only then realized how late in the day it was. The sky had taken on the darkened gray color of winter evenings, and would soon sink into cold blackness. Whether she'd been restored by Lilith (as Sanae actually remembered it), or by The Voidborn, it seemed that the winter spirit Letty Whiterock was keen on making up for lost time by making it an especially harsh, if late, winter.

Sanae had in fact been informed of the true course of events by Reimu shortly after they had happened (along with Miasma, Alice, and Youmu, who all vowed to keep their silence), and had found it completely unbelievable. Even now, she wasn't sure how much of Reimu's story she actually believed, but it had been backed up by both Marisa and Akyuu, who tried to assure her of Reimu's sincerity on the matter. Sanae hadn't even told Kanako or Suwako about this, not even all these weeks later. She thought they'd be even less likely to believe Reimu's story about The Voidborn than she herself had been, and would thus be less likely to keep it secret.

Sanae shook these thoughts from her mind as she walked back toward the shrine proper, bracing herself against the cold gusts of wind that plagued the upper reaches of Youkai Mountain. The close proximity of the Wind God's Lake only made the wind all the more chilling. She just hoped she wouldn't freeze to death up here before she could warm back up inside the shrine.

"Lady Kanako! Lady Suwako! I'm back!" Sanae called into the shrine, shutting the door tightly to shut out the cold air behind her. "I'll be in to prepare dinner shortly!" Though even as she said this, she could have sworn she could hear the sounds of people from within the kitchen. They really must have been impatient, if they were going so far as to try and cook for themselves. Not that the gods _needed_ to eat, but that hardly seemed to stop them.

"Well, well.~ Welcome back, little shrine maiden," came the mocking voice that Sanae now knew all too well. A pair of arms draped over Sanae's shoulders, locking loosely around her neck as the body attached to them pressed up against her from behind. Rumia's face peered at Sanae from beside her head as the youkai leaned in, and the other woman grinned, flashing that dangerously sharp smile of hers.

"R... Rumia!? What the hell are _you_ doing here!?" Sanae exclaimed, while trying to free herself from Rumia's grasp, to no avail. Rumia's grip was relaxed, but she was still far stronger than Sanae.

Rumia rolled her eyes, before her gaze briefly darted in the direction of the commotion coming from the kitchen. "Well we _were_ trying to go to the Hakurei Shrine," Rumia explained, "but it seems that Kana has no sense of direction."

"Well it's not _my_ fault that little Voidling I asked directions from didn't know the difference between shrines!" Kana replied, her voice issuing from the kitchen. She was then interrupted by a defiant sound from Suwako, before both drowned out by the sound of several glass dishes shattering on the floor.

"We wouldn't have _needed_ directions if you'd just let me take us there myself!" Rumia shouted back with a distinct growl. In her moment of distraction, however, Sanae was able to duck down out of Rumia's locked arms, and freed herself.

"W-why the hell are you _naked!?"_ Sanae shuddered with revulsion, realizing that Rumia had in fact been pressed up naked against her for that entire time. When she'd gotten free of Rumia's grip, she got a closer look at the darkness youkai's body than she'd probably ever wanted. Her body had only been materialized from the hips upward; the rest of her legs were hidden away somewhere else by the swirling fog-like darkness with which she used to teleport around. But from what part of the woman's body Sanae could see, before she averted her eyes, she wasn't adorned with even a single article of clothing. Even if under normal circumstances, Sanae could have considered a woman with Rumia's well-formed body attractive, she could only feel appalled just wondering how long the youkai had been strutting about nude in her shrine.

Rumia looked down at herself in response to Sanae's question, as though only aware for the very first time that she'd left Makai without any clothing, and simply shrugged her shoulders. "Didn't feel like getting dressed, I suppose."

"Get the hell out of my shrine, you shameless excuse for a poltergeist!" Kanako's voice bellowed, followed by a bright burst of danmaku from the kitchen, as well as Suwako's scream as she must have been caught in the other goddess's attack.

A moment later, out flew Kana from the kitchen, who was about as equally clothed as her companion, with a trail of possessed cooking supplies trailing behind her. Kanako stormed out from the kitchen only a few seconds later, before she was clocked in the head by a large pot, flung by the laughing poltergeist. With the goddess momentarily stunned, Kana flew defensively behind Rumia, giggling like a child. "Do you think she's mad about what we did in her room~?"

"Oh, definitely," Rumia answered, grinning wickedly back at both Sanae and Kanako now. "Maybe we shouldn't tell them what I did to you in Sanae's old school girl uniform."

"Y-you two did..." It didn't take much for Sanae to put two and two together, to realize just what the hell Rumia meant. Whether or not the two had actually done such a thing didn't matter, because Sanae fell for it either way. "Ew...! Why!?"

"Just because we felt like it.~" Kana leaned over Rumia's shoulder, and stuck her tongue out at Sanae. "What're you gonna do, stop us~?"

Sanae cringed all over again. Just the mental image of Kana, dressed in her old school uniform from the outside world, as Rumia... she couldn't even bear to finish the thought without the disgust welling back up inside her. "We stopped you last time!" Sanae responded, not quite looking either of them in the eye, though she did have her hands reaching for her gohei, and several sealing charms. "And, besides... you wouldn't want... _that_ to happen again... r-right...?"

Kanako, who had no knowledge of The Voidborn, did not seem to know what Sanae was alluding to, but it seemed that both Rumia and Kana understood perfectly. "But we haven't tried to kill anyone this time, now have we?" Rumia answered, and of course, she was technically correct. "We just got so bored in Makai, we thought it might be more fun to play around with the people in Gensokyo."

"You're all a such a bunch of stiff, grumpy losers, that we thought Gensokyo could use some lightening up.~" Kana added, now locking her arms around Rumia's waist affectionately, and squeezing them tightly. "And here we are, trying to be friendly, and make amends for everything that happened. But you all just shut us out.~" Kana gave Rumia a pleading look, one that Sanae wouldn't have believed in the slightest. "Oh Rumia, how could they be so cruel to us~?"

"Perhaps they're simply jealous. We show up, having all the fun, and don't even offer to invite them. How do you think we would feel?"

"Oh, well of _course!"_ Kana said, lightly bonking herself on the head. "Why don't you go have fun with the two gods, and I'll take the cute little shrine maiden~?"

"W-what!? Don't even joke about that sort of thing!" Sanae said, stepping backwards until she reached the very back wall of the shrine's main room.

"Oh, that sounds like a _great_ idea, Kana," Rumia said, both of them effectively ignoring Sanae's pleas. Rumia turned her gaze over toward Kanako, who fixed the dark youkai with a violent glare. "I bet I'd have no problem handling a pair of goddesses all by myself."

"I'd sooner burn this shrine to the ground than let _you_ touch me, you filthy demon," Kanako growled out, standing at her full height now, which easily towered over both Rumia and Kana, who were both shorter than even Sanae.

"Well now, wouldn't _that_ be a sight? You probably wouldn't even have the chance." Kanako did not respond to Rumia's challenge. Perhaps because, of course, burning down her own shrine would've been absurd. But also, it seemed she knew that Rumia completely outmatched her, after seeing the damage she'd caused at the Hakurei Shrine, and from hearing first-hand accounts from Sanae about the battle in Makai.

Rumia glared down at Kanako for a moment longer, practically daring her to react, before her smiled faded back into Rumia's usual moody scowl. "Come on, Kana. I'm sick of this place now, anyway," Rumia snapped her fingers (ultimately a needless gesture), and her clothes rematerialized on her body out of the darkness. "Let's go find someone _else_ to toy with.~"

"Aw, we're leaving already?" Kana gaped at Rumia, clear disappointment spread across her features. "Oh, fine! But you owe me later, Rumia dear." Kana wrapped both of her arms around Rumia's left one, her still bare chest pressing up against it. She gave a teasing little wave back at Sanae with the hand closest to her. "But I think I'll be back to pay you a visit, cutie.~"

With that last threatening promise, both Rumia and Kana vanished into the shadows, leaving Sanae and the goddesses of the Moriya Shrine safe once again. The rest of Gensokyo, however, was still unaware of the new wave of mischievous horror that awaited them in the upcoming weeks. The Moriya Shrine had been only the first of many places that would come to be targeted by the devious duo of Rumia and Kana.


	10. Chapter 10: Sakuya

**Chapter 10: Sakuya**

* * *

"Patchouli, I've brought your tea, as you requested," Sakuya said, placing the cup down beside a large stack of books on the mage's desk. Patchouli only looked up from the book currently spread out before her for a moment, nodded her head in thanks, and then returned to her research without a word.

Sakuya frowned slightly. Not unlike Akyuu, Patchouli had been at her research for quite some time since the aftermath of the Rumia incident. It hadn't helped matters that Sakuya had opted to inform both Remilia _and_ Patchouli about the truth in relation to The Voidborn, and what had actually transpired in the Void during that final battle. Her mistress had actively encouraged Patchouli to continue her research after that. Patchouli had barely left the library since then, and usually sent Koakuma to request for food or resources from elsewhere in the mansion.

"Mistress Remilia has been curious about your progress, Patchouli," Sakuya said, after several minutes of silence between the two, during which Sakuya had hoped Patchouli would have spoken up on her own. "She seems to be under the impression that this Void contains a lot of magical potential that we can utilize."

"Maybe it does," Patchouli replied, without even looking up from the ancient tome spread out before her. "If a poltergeist like Kana Anaberal was able to obtain that sort of power, then I'm certain I would have no trouble with it. But..."

"But... what, exactly?"

"My research has been nothing but an infuriating dead end." Patchouli suddenly slammed shut the book she'd been perusing, and then set it atop a stack of a similarly useless texts. "I've found very little in the form of actual references to the Void. At least nothing helpful, that isn't just a reiteration of everything we already know."

"You've been at this for almost a month now." Sakuya sighed. Trying to rush Patchouli's research wasn't really going to help either of them, but Remilia would probably not be happy to learn that she'd come up with nothing after all this time. "What about The Voidborn specifically? Have you found anything about her?"

"Even less than I have about the Void. If she's supposed to be this big secret, she's done a good job of keeping it that way. If we can even call that thing a 'she', if the way you described it was accurate." Patchouli pointed out one of the smaller books she'd set aside; a demon book, much like the ones in Kosuzu's collection. "I did learn about an ancient family of lamia mages with abilities similar to the ones you described The Voidborn exhibiting, but on a much weaker scale. Except this lamia clan was considered so powerful at the time, that they were hunted into extinction. If it weren't for that, I'd say trying to hunt one of these lamia down would be our best lead."

"At this rate, we'd be better off asking Kana herself," Sakuya said with a sigh of irritation. She had a sneaking suspicion that Kana would be less than helpful if it ever came down to that.

"Kana probably knows as much about the Void as I do. Which is to say, absolutely nothing."

"But she _does_ know how to use the Void. At the very least, she might remember how she obtained the power to manipulate it. Or if perhaps, the person who _created_ her bestowed her with that power."

"That's probably more likely," Patchouli said, taking out another book from the pile that she hadn't read through yet, and opened it to a section she'd had marked. "We have no idea how old Kana actually is, or who created her. But I'm beginning to fear that these Void powers aren't something that can just be obtained through research or sheer willpower."

"The Mistress probably won't be happy to hear that."

"She'll get over it," Patchouli replied, without concern. "You might forget this from time to time, but I've been friends with Remilia a lot longer than you've known her. She might be fixated upon obtaining this Void power for her own right now, but if it becomes clear that it's forever outside of her reach, she'll give up on it." She flipped to the next page in her book without even looking back at Sakuya. "Or did you forget how quickly she gave up trying to invade the Lunar Capital?"

"No, I didn't." It would be quite some time before Sakuya forgot how embarrassingly both Remilia and herself had been defeated by the Lunarian princess, Watatsuki no Yorihime. "I'll just have to tell her to give up on the idea, then. Are you still going to continue your research?"

"For now. At the very least, I may be able to study Kana's abilities if I ever see them in action for myself."

The sound of what seemed to be shattered glass from somewhere outside the library stopped Sakuya before she could respond. This was followed by about half a dozen of the mansions fairy maids pouring into the library, causing a ruckus that seemed to annoy Patchouli greatly. At least half of the maids had apparently been the victims of some sort of kitchen accident; one poor fairy looked as if she'd had an entire pot of some sort of sauce dumped on top of her.

"Miss Sakuya! You have to help!" one of the fairy maids exclaimed.

"There was silverware flying everywhere," another continued, "and the food was being thrown all over the place!"

"Calm down, please," Sakuya said, trying to speak over the group, who had devolved into incoherently trying to babble over each other all at once. "You," she said again, pointing toward the one she deemed to be the least nervous out of the group, "tell me exactly what the problem is. _Calmly,_ please."

The other fairies fell quiet, and the one that had been singled out stammered nervously. "W-well, there was... we didn't see who was doing it! At first, it was kind of funny! Plates and silverware all started dancing around, making a weird show of it. But then things in the kitchen just started flinging through the air for no reason, and then we heard someone laughing about it! But I didn't recognize the voice, and we never actually saw anyone!"

Sakuya sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation. "I think I have an idea of who's behind it," Sakuya groaned. "All of you, just stay here. And _don't_ make a mess of the library." Sakuya turned back toward Patchouli, who it seemed had been intrigued enough to look up from her book. "You might be getting your wish, Patchouli."

"Seems a little bit sudden for Kana to be showing up out of nowhere like this, if that's what you're implying."

"We'll see," was all Sakuya answered, before she disappeared from the library, seemingly teleporting out of the library; instead, she'd simply briefly stopped time while she ran toward the kitchen. If she was going to intercept Kana before she could bail, she needed every advantage she could get. Sakuya's memories of the battle in Makai were just as clear in her mind as the 'true' events involving the Voidborn, and she knew what Kana could do on her own. But if Rumia was here as well, then she wouldn't be able to afford wasting time.

Sakuya only allowed time to resume its normal flow when she arrived at the kitchen, and found it disconcertingly empty. The other fairy maids that worked in the kitchen had already been chased out, and there was no sign of Kana. Nor of Rumia, for that matter. The signs of Kana's involvement were obvious, however. Counters had been overturned, all of the drawers and cabinets had been flung open, and shattered dishes and silverware were scattered throughout the room without care. Everything about the scene was an absolute disaster.

"Aw, sorry Sakuya! You just missed me!" said the unmistakable voice of Kana, echoing throughout the walls of the mansion. "Even if you stopped me with your fancy time powers, I still got the better of you! Now that's just _sad."_

"I highly doubt you'd ever shown yourself in the first place, Kana," Sakuya replied, clutching several knives between her fingers. "What do you want? And where's Rumia?"

"Oh, you know... around.~" Kana giggled childishly, and then fazed through the nearby kitchen counter, chin propped up in the palms of her hands. "We've been so _bored_ though. We just stopped by to have a bit of fun is all.~ Is that so wrong of us?"

"Yes, it is," came Sakuya's answer. Kana sighed. "The two of you nearly destroyed Gensokyo as a result of your carelessness. And you both murdered several innocent people just to show off your power."

"Well _sorry.~"_ Kana said, in quite the overly exaggerated manner. "I never said we _didn't_ mess up.~ But what's wrong with us having a little fun?"

"I've seen your idea of 'fun', after what I saw you do in Makai." Kana had yet to make a hostile move, and there was still no sign of Rumia. Yet Sakuya could sense the latter's presence. "Why don't the two of you stick to Makai for you amusement, and leave Gensokyo out of it?"

"Because Shinki is _busy_ and she never wants to play along with us.~" Kana stuck her tongue out at Sakuya. The maid couldn't help but to groan at Kana's childish antics. "And Sanae kicked us out after Rumia told her that she had sex with me in Sanae's room while wearing her old schoolgirl outfit.~"

"... _Why_ did you do that in the first place?"

"Well we didn't _really_ do it!" Though judging by the disappointment on Kana's face, Sakuya could only assume that she _wanted_ to have done it. "Rumia just said that it'd be funny if we told her that we did.~"

"Hey, I said I'd let you do whatever the hell you wanted to the idiot shrine maiden later, didn't I?" Finally, out came Rumia, emerging from the darkness beside her poltergeist partner. "But! I've got a better idea. We're going to play a new game with Sakuya here," said the darkness youkai, who was now grinning wickedly.

"Oh, a new game~!" Kana clapped her hands together delightedly. "What kinda game is it Rumia? I so hope it's a fun one.~"

"You both must be insane if you think I'm actually going to play along with you two," Sakuya said, once more tightly clutching the knives in her hand. "I won't hesitate to bring the others here to stop you again, if that's what it takes."

"Well, Sakuya, I'm not really giving you a choice, now am I?" I'm not going to _kill_ anyone, if that's what you're so afraid of. None of you are all that entertaining once you're dead." Rumia snapped her fingers, and the entirety of the Scarlet Devil Mansion was thrust into pitch blackness.

Suspecting some other form of foul play from Rumia, Sakuya threw the knives in the direction of Rumia's original location. The knives blades clattered uselessly against the wall, and dropped to the floor. Sakuya cursed loudly as she nearly banged her head against the counter trying to retrieve her knives in that state of complete darkness.

"Well now Sakuya, resorting to violence like that is going to make _you_ look like the bad guy here!" Rumia's voice had no direct source this time, as though the darkness itself was speaking on her behalf; which, for all that Sakuya knew, might not have been far from the actual truth. "The rules of our little game are simple. It's just a modified game of hide and seek, with some fun new rules.~"

"Hide and seek?" Even for Rumia, this was completely absurd. "You're resorting to children's games to amuse yourself now?"

"Says the one who works for a vampire with the body and attitude of a ten year old. Don't be so condescending." The darkness around the kitchen lifted somewhat, although only around the exit door. It was just enough light for Sakuya to be able to find her way out without stumbling across knives and broken class on her way out of the kitchen. "Kana's job is to go around and capture everyone in the mansion. If she tags them, they're considered caught, and have to go along with her.~ _You_ get to be the jailer, Sakuya. Your job is to catch Kana before she finds and tags everyone in the mansion, and to save as many of them as possible. If you catch Kana, or if you save more people than she catches, you win.~ And _if_ you win, then the two of us leave without a fuss, and never come back."

"And what happens if _you_ win?" Sakuya was a little bit afraid of what the answer might be, but she felt that she had to ask. She couldn't believe she was actually going along with this idiotic game, either.

"Oh, I don't know..." Rumia sighed, apparently having not given the idea much thought. "Maybe we'll molest one of Kana's captives, or something. I didn't really think it through. _My_ job in this little game is to just trip you up as much as possible along the way, and to also be the referee.~"

Sakuya had a feeling that this whole ordeal was going to be completely rigged in Rumia and Kana's favor. Especially if Rumia was to be the one making judgment calls on the progress of this so-called 'game' of theirs. The mere thought of Rumia and Kana taking their 'prize' from someone in the mansion absolutely disgusted Sakuya, however. She couldn't help but imagine her mistress Remilia being the one caught in that situation. "You had better not lay your hands on _anyone_ in this mansion that way, Rumia! Or either of you, for that matter!"

"You'd better win then, huh~?" Rumia cackled madly, drowning out the sounds of several screams from deeper within the mansion; no doubt originating from several of the fairy maids that Kana had already captured.

Sakuya bolted through the kitchen door without delay. Beyond it, the rest of the mansion was in total blackness. But Sakuya had one advantage over the two devious tricksters, and that was her knowledge of the mansion. Even in a state of absolute darkness, through which she doubted even her mistress would be able to see, Sakuya was able to navigate the mansion with relative ease. Admittedly, the fairy maids were useless outside of the most basic of tasks, which meant that Sakuya almost single handedly cared for the entire property on a daily basis. She kept time at a complete standstill for the majority of the time, only briefly allowing it to resume for a few seconds so that she could trace the sounds of screams and struggles through the halls. This turned out to be almost useless, as so many of the fairies had been freaking out over merely being trapped in the pitch black of the mansion without warning.

"Waaah! Sakuya, help...!" echoed Meiling's voice from the front of the mansion. Sakuya had been going the wrong way the entire time, thrown off on a false trail by the cowardly sounds of the panicking fairies.

"Damn it...! Hold on, Meiling!" At least Sakuya could stall for time by keeping Kana frozen in time until she could blindly feel her way toward the mansion foyer. At least when Sakuya arrived, the front doors of the mansion were thrown open, allowing the daylight to illuminate the first few feet of the foyer, before Rumia's magically-placed darkness took complete hold. In that small amount of light, however, Sakuya could see Kana dragging Meiling into the mansion by her hair, and both of them frozen in time.

Sakuya reached for her knives, and then threw them carefully and with perfect aim; each of them aimed in Kana's direction, with the intent of scaring her enough to release her grip on Meiling. Sakuya could then grab the gate guard, freeze Kana once again, and escort Meiling somewhere safe.

With her knives in place, Sakuya resumed the flow of time. Her blades had the intended result of sending Kana into a momentary panic, causing her to loosen her hold on Meiling's hair. Sakuya moved to grab the woman, but felt her legs being pulled out from under her, and she fell flat onto the floor.

"Foul on Sakuya!" Rumia called, after she'd dragged Sakuya down to the floor. "Illegal use of knives!"

"What is that supposed to mean!?"

"I'm the referee, remember? This is a strictly _non-violent_ game we're playing here. Don't be so quick to resort to being to bloodthirsty, Sakuya.~" Coming from Rumia, this was almost laughable.

"Aw, that's too bad! You were so close, too.~" Kana giggled, and then opened up a Void pocket. "But you didn't play fair, so that's one point for me.~ In you go~!" Kana grabbed Meiling once more, ignoring the other woman's protests, and she chucked her off into the Void pocket, and immediately followed her into it, finally closing the portal behind her.

"W... where did you two take Meiling?" Sakuya wrenched her ankles free of Rumia's grip, which slackened willingly, now that Kana had departed.

"Probably to wherever she decided to stash the losers until the game ends.~" Rumia shrugged her shoulders, unseen within the darkness, and then melded back into it. "I'm sure she's still somewhere in the mansion. But I doubt finding her is gonna help you win the game.~" Rumia's voice echoed around Sakuya this time, taunting her. Even if she could stop time, Sakuya knew she couldn't do a thing to stop Rumia from popping up anywhere in the mansion; she was practically omniscient in this darkness.

* * *

 **\- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o -**

* * *

Elsewhere in the mansion, Kana had already begun to relocate her 'prisoners', and had come up with her own plan to assure that Sakuya wouldn't be able to free them quite so easily.

Unlike the rest of the mansion, the basement was still moderately lit. Whether this had been done on purpose by Rumia or if she had simply forgotten didn't much matter. The basement was home to Remilia's younger sister, the reclusive and emotionally unstable Flandre Scarlet. Kana neither knew about just how dangerous Flandre could be, nor would she have even cared.

Flandre sat on the floor of her room, watching as Kana tugged a bound Meiling into the room, and then shoved her into the corner. Kana then turned her attention toward Flandre, and gave her a friendly wave. "Heya, Remi's little sis~!"

"It's Flandre," she answered. Flandre had heard the commotion from upstairs the whole time, and had been curious what was going on. "Are you the one causing all the noise upstairs? Who are you, anyway?"

"Yup! My name's Kana," she said, before plopping herself down on floor in front of Flandre, and smiled brightly. "Me and a friend are playin' a game with Sakuya.~ My job is to catch everyone in the mansion before Sakuya catches me~!" Kana pointed toward Meiling in the corner, to illustrate her point.

"Oh! That must be why everyone upstairs was freaking out." Flandre couldn't help but return the smile. She'd already decided she kind of liked Kana. "Can I play too~?"

"Sure! You can be on my team, kay?" Kana hovered over toward the door, and peeked outside. Beyond the walls of Flandre's room, the rest of the mansion was still dark, but there was enough light for Kana to see that Sakuya was nowhere in sight. At least, not yet. Kana closed the door again, so the light in the room would no longer be seen from outside. "Okay Flanny, all you gotta go is guard my prisoners! And if Sakuya comes, you just gotta scare her off and keep her from rescuin' everyone!"

"Aw, but Sakuya cheats!" Flandre may not have interacted much with anyone aside from her older sister, but she was at least aware of Sakuya's abilities. "She'll just stop time and walk right past me!"

"Well it wouldn't be fun is it wasn't at least sort of a challenge, right~? Besides, my buddy Rumia's gonna help you out if Sakuya starts cheatin' again!"

"Well... okay! What happens if we win~?"

"I'unno.~ We didn't really think that far ahead." Kana paused in thought, staring up at the ceiling with a finger at her chin. "Okay, I got it! You can keep Meiling, over there.~"

"W-wha!?" Meiling gasped, and renewed trying to struggle against her bonds. Kana had haphazardly tied Meiling up with the torn up shreds of a stolen fairy maid outfit, for some reason. "You can't just give me away like that...!"

"Deal! Flandre said, grinning widely and completely ignoring Meiling's protests.

"Okay~! Keep an eye out for Sakuya, and we totally got this.~"

* * *

 **\- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o -**

* * *

"Get your hands off of me!" Patchouli shouted, as she conjured another water blast aimed at Kana, who released her hold on the mage to make her escape. Sakuya had tracked Kana tirelessly through the mansion for what seemed like hours now (but what was probably less than fifteen minutes, after taking Sakuya's time stopping into account), and had always come up short of stopping the poltergeist from abducting any of the fairy maids. Patchouli was at least putting up enough of a fight to give Sakuya the chance of stopping this nonsense. Even better, Patchouli's magic was providing them with enough light to see, even within Rumia's magical darkness.

"Aw, now you two are just not playing fair!" Kana said, as she darted between knives and elemental magic blasts. "We said no knives!"

Sitting atop one of the nearby bookshelves in the library, Rumia shook her head. "I'll allow it."

"Aw, now Rumia! You're supposed to be on _my_ side!" Kana pouted. Stretching her arms out to either side, she conjured up twin Void pockets to act as her shields, which consumed any of the attacks coming her way. "Well if they're allowed to use projectiles, I am too!" Kana threw her hands up into the air, releasing several of her soul birds. She used them to possess various books now scattered throughout the library, which she then flung at her opponents.

"Stop throwing my books! Those are not toys for you to just toss around!" Patchouli attempted to distract Kana with a fire blast, but hesitated when Kana decided to use the possessed books as a makeshift shield, knowing Patchouli wouldn't risk torching her own library.

"You two went after nearly everyone in the mansion already!" Sakuya shouted at the two. "Can we just put this to an end already!?"

"No forfeiting!" Rumia answered, throwing a stray book at Sakuya, and then a second at Patchouli. The darkness youkai burst into a fit of laughter when Patchouli was knocked flat on the floor by the particularly heavy tome she'd thrown.

"Nice shot Rumia~!" Kana said cheerily. She phased through nearest bookshelf, avoiding another wave of Sakuya's knives, and then reemerged from the floor near the downed Patchouli. "Come on, let's get her to the basement with the rest!"

Sakuya moved to try and free Patchouli from Kana's grip, but even her time stopping couldn't prevent Rumia from intervening when she tried to help. The instant she'd pulled Patchouli free, and resumed the flow of time, Rumia shoved her through the shadows, dropping Sakuya off somewhere within the depths of the mansion's basement.

Further down the basement halls, Sakuya could hear the unmistakable giggling of Kana as she carted the captured Patchouli off to wherever she'd been storing her captives. _Shit!_ Sakuya thought to herself, _she's hiding everyone in Flandre's room!_

Once again, Sakuya stopped time so that she could weave her way through darkened halls, only resuming it long enough to follow Kana's voice. She was not as familiar with the basement layout, because she only ever entered it long enough to deliver Flandre her meals, and she'd had no idea where specifically Rumia had sent her off to.

When eventually Sakuya blindly turned a corner, she was able to see the light from the open door to Flandre's room, and Kana shoving Patchouli inside. "Kana! Let them go!"

"Oops! Guess you found em!" Kana laughed, and pulled the door shut, once more thrusting the hall into pitch blackness. Either way, Sakuya knew where the door was, and made a run for it.

Sakuya was forced to grind to a halt to stop herself from being burned alive, when a large blade of fire cut through her path, wielded by Remilia's younger sister. "Nuh uh, Sakuya! Kana says I'm not supposed to let you through here! My job is to guard the prisoners.~"

"Flandre..." Sakuya sighed, and tried to keep her voice as calm as possible, so she wouldn't risk provoking the younger sister. _"Please_ step aside. I need to put a stop to this stupid game of theirs."

"No!" Flandre stomped her foot on the floor, and the flames of her artificially created sword flared. Sakuya took a step back from the heat. "I'm having fun! I don't _want_ to stop the game!"

"Young mistress, please," Sakuya said, trying to appeal to Flandre as much as possible. "I _know_ you want to play their game. But you don't know what these two are capable of."

"I don't care!" Flandre screamed. The flames of her blade continued to sear the floor when it made contact, and her power surged. It was clear to Sakuya that trying to reason with Flandre wasn't going to get her anywhere. While she was busy throwing her tantrum, Sakuya stopped time once again, and snuck past the younger vampire. She'd probably regret crossing Flandre later, but it was better than the alternative of letting Rumia and Kana have their way. Or at least, she hoped it was.

With Flandre still frozen, unaware that Sakuya had walked right past her, Sakuya approached the door to Flandre's room. The moment she touched the door handle, however, a powerful electric shock coursed through the maid's body, sending her sprawling to the ground. One of Kana's soul birds departed from the door, its job now finished. Rumia's laughter rang out around Sakuya, mocking her. "Did you _really_ think you were gonna win that easily?"

"We already won anyway.~" Kana said, as she drifted past the downed Sakuya. Remilia was draped casually over the poltergeist's shoulder, with a somewhat bored expression on her face. "Got the last one right here, Rumia!"

"M... mistress Remilia..." Sakuya propped herself back up off of the floor, trying to reorient herself from the shock she'd received before.

"Oh come on, Sakuya," Remilia answered, smirking slightly. "Rumia explained the whole thing to me, anyway. It's just a game.~"

"... _You're_ going along with this too...?"

"Well, I thought it could be fun to watch you run around the mansion chasing the two of them.~" Remilia explained. Sakuya sighed with resignation; there was no point arguing with her when she decided to go ahead with something.

"Fine. I lost," Sakuya admitted. "Now can the two of you _please_ leave?"

"Oh, fine," Rumia said, seeming very bored now that their game was over. "But you still owe us a prize."

"Sorry Rumia, but I'd really rather not have you violating my friend, or my maid.~" Remilia, it seemed, had at least enough sense to discourage that.

"Aw, come on!" Kana crossed her arms, pouting. In the process, she also dropped Remilia, who tumbled to the floor. "Rumia said she'd let me have the green shrine maiden only if she could have the squishy mage!"

"I am not a... squishy mage!" was Patchouli's response from beyond the walls of Flandre's room.

"Oh, don't worry Kana. I figured Remilia would back out on our deal." Rumia turned her head to face the vampire mistress, and grinned widely. "That's why we had sex in the mansion's pantry beforehand, just in case."

"You _what!?"_ Sakuya found herself recalling all of the food and drink she'd prepared that entire day, and the supplies she'd taken from the pantry to make them. And, now that she thought about it, the supplies had seemed strangely disorganized that morning. Suddenly, she felt like throwing up.

"Oh, that's disgusting!" Remilia was almost as appalled as Sakuya. While she couldn't hear the specific reactions of Patchouli or Meiling, who were both drowned out by the commotion of the fairy maids trapped inside Flandre's room, she doubted they were any less horrified.

Rumia and Kana both laughed at their expense, and as they did, the darkness over the mansion finally lifted. "Come on Kana, let's go find someone else to harass.~"

"Kay~!" Kana hopped up into Rumia's arms, and looped her arms around the youkai's neck. The two then vanished into the shadows.

Sakuya breathed a sigh of relief. "At least _that's_ over..." Even though Sakuya was still disgusted by what Rumia had revealed toward the end there. She opened the door of Flandre's room, which was no longer booby trapped, and released the dozens of fairy maids that had been trapped inside. At the end of the procession was Patchouli, who was more irritated than all of the other combined, grumbling under her breath as she returned to the solitude of her library. Meiling, it seemed, had been knocked unconscious. Apparently, she'd been trampled by fairies.

Sakuya simply shook her head. Meiling would come to eventually, and she didn't feel like rousing her yet. Sakuya turned toward the basement hall, ready to return upstairs with the others. However, she was impeded by Flandre, who stood in the doorway, glaring up at Sakuya. "... You cheated," was all that Flandre stated, in a flat tone.

"I... have no idea what you're talking about, young mistress..." Sakuya took a step back; not the right move. Flandre pulled the door shut behind her, which locked shut from the outside.

"Kana said if you cheated, I could keep you, too." Flandre smiled. Sakuya was stuck, at least until Sakuya could either break down the door, or someone opened the door from the outside. "She said I got to keep Meiling if we won, and we did! So now I have two people to play with today.~ What kinda game should we play first, Sakuya~?"

Sakuya _really_ hoped that her mistress would come to check on her sister again, soon. Otherwise, it was going to continue to be a _very_ long day.


	11. Chapter 11: Marisa

**Chapter 11: Marisa**

* * *

Marisa arrived at the Hakurei Shrine that morning to find Reimu in a rather familiar and distressing situation. Only this time, it came along with an added nuisance to make matters even worse. It had been bad enough when Kana had opted to possess the Hakurei Shrine a few months ago, but now she had Rumia as a partner in crime. The shrine's interior certainly showed signs of Kana's handiwork; furniture propped in bizarre places, shattered dishes, and Marisa even noticed what looked like Reimu's bed thrown atop the shrine's roof when she'd entered.

"Kana and Rumia got to you too, huh?" Marisa asked, as she sat down beside the shrine's center table. Reimu sat on the opposite end with her head face-down on its surface, groaning irritably.

"Three days," was Reimu's only response.

Marisa blinked back her surprise. "That's rough, Reimu."

"What'd they do to you?"

"Well uh, nothin' directly. Surprised you didn't hear about it." A loud giggle echoed from elsewhere in the shrine, Kana's voice no doubt, briefly interrupting Marisa. She paused, waiting to see if the troublesome duo were going to barge in, but then resumed once the shrine fell silent again. "I think it musta been Rumia, but someone stole some of my clothes last week, see? I didn't think nothin' of it at the time, but a few days later, a whole buncha stuff I never even saw starts turnin' up at my house! Now I mean, I wasn't really complaining. Free stuff, right ze? But turns out Rumia was stealin' all this stuff from people in the village, posin' as me! So I get a buncha people barging in, accusing me of takin' their things!"

Reimu finally raised her head off of the table, and Marisa could immediately tell that it must've been days since the poor shrine maiden had actually slept. She stared at Marisa in silence for a few seconds, before she finally asked, "How much of it did you _actually_ steal?"

"Hey, I didn't steal anythin' from the village since we were kids!" Not that she would admit to, anyway. "I mean, I guess I did _borrow_ a few books from Kosuzu without askin', but I was gonna give em back, eventually!"

"Oh please." Rumia chose this moment to appear from the darkness beside Marisa, materializing from her thighs and up. She draped herself onto Marisa's shoulder, with one arm latched around the other girl's body to keep her from moving away; something that Marisa tried to do the moment she noticed that Rumia didn't have a single scrap of clothing on her. Reimu, who also noticed this, simply slammed her head back down on the table with a loud groan. "I've seen the collection of books you've _borrowed._ Among other things. When's the last time you actually returned one of them?"

"H-hey! I ain't some kinda common thief!" Marisa tried to pull herself away, but Rumia's grip held strong. She was clearly making Marisa uncomfortable, and it was all the more reason for Rumia to keep a hold on her. "Why'd you have to go trashin' my reputation like that?"

"Then you're just an _uncommon_ thief," Rumia clarified. "Maybe they wouldn't jump to conclusions so quickly if they didn't already have a reason to believe you might already be a thief~?"

"They thought it was me 'cause you went and stole my clothes, and dressed up as me while ya did it!"

"Oh lighten up.~" Kana popped out from the floor beside Marisa, on the opposite side as Rumia. She wrapped her arms around Marisa's. And, like Rumia, she was equally unclothed. Had they been anyone _other_ than Rumia or Kana, Marisa might not have been quite so horrified. "Rumia was just having a little fun. Is that so wrong~?"

"W-well, no... but..." Marisa tried to tug herself free yet again, but was held back by both Rumia _and_ Kana this time. "Do you have to go doin' stuff at other people's expense...?"

"Not my fault none of you decide to play along," Rumia said, sighing in exasperation. "Why do you all have to make things just _so_ difficult for yourselves?"

"We're not hurting anyone.~ ... Most of the time.~" Kana put a hand to her lips, partially concealing a coy smile. She then turned her head to look at Reimu, who still had her head down on the table. "You sure you wanna go laying your head there, Reimu? I mean, considering what Rumia and I did on th-"

"I heard what you were doing!" Reimu shouted back at the deviously giggling poltergeist. "You've probably done it on every surface in this whole shrine over the past three days! And I need to sleep _somewhere!"_

Kana fell silent, and put a finger to her lip in thought. "Say, Rumia? _Is_ there anywhere that we forgot?"

"The ceiling, maybe?"

"No, no. We did that on Tuesday." Kana gave the question some more thought, with Marisa still uncomfortably trapped between the two. "How about the storage closet?"

"You idiot, that was the _first_ place we went, and Reimu found us there." Rumia casually bumped Kana on the back of her head, with no real force. "I was closer. The _roof_ was the only place we didn't yet, because it was raining yesterday."

"Oh, duh! Silly me.~" Kana then tugged lightly at Marisa's arm, and leaned her head in close to the magician girl's ear. "Hey, Marisa, you wanna come up to the roof with us~?"

"Wait, what!?"

"You didn't strike me as being some kind of prude, Marisa," Rumia said, pulling Marisa back in her direction. "It's okay, I don't _bite._ Kana might, though." Rumia grinned, flashing her dagger-like teeth. Kana then playfully nipped at Marisa's neck.

Marisa's face flushed a bright red. She jumped, letting out a surprised cry when one of the two grabbed her from behind. "N-no, uh... that's fine, really! Y-you two go have fun, ze.~"

"Not a whole lot of fun, are you?" Rumia's expression changed almost instantly. Marisa couldn't decide which was more terrifying; the lascivious grin Rumia had had a moment before, or the angry glare she was giving Marisa now.

"More of you for myself, then.~" Kana said. She finally release her grip on Marisa and latched herself onto Rumia. "Come on Rumia, we'll leave these two alone and go have our fun.~" The two then vanished into Rumia's darkness without a trace. If they really _had_ warped off onto the shrine's roof, they were at least being quiet about it for the time being.

Marisa breathed a sigh of relief, and slouched forward onto the table. Remembering what Kana had revealed a few minutes earlier, she reconsidered, and then sat back up. "I almost miss the _violent_ Rumia."

"At least if she was _killing_ someone, I'd have an excuse to send everyone after them again." It was a morbid thought, and neither of them truly meant it, but they were both sick of their lewd antics of the last several weeks.

"Did you hear what they did over at the Scarlet Devil Mansion two weeks ago?" Reimu propped her head up in her hands, and then shook it in denial. "I was visitin' the library there when Patchy told me. She said the two of em showed up one afternoon and started capturin' everyone in the mansion as part of some weird game. And then they locked Sakuya and Meiling down in the basement with Flandre til Remilia realized they were missing, and found em."

Reimu's expression didn't change, but Marisa attributed this more to her total exhaustion, rather than a lack of interest. "How long were they down there for?"

"A few hours, at least," Marisa shrugged. "Patchy said they probably woulda been down there longer, but Meiling started screamin' and cryin', and that's how Remilia found em."

"They've been pulling similar crap all over Gensokyo, apparently," Reimu said flatly. "Byakuren said they tried molesting several people from her temple. And then Nue started playing along with them, til Byakuren finally chased the two out."

"Well at least they've only been stickin' to Gensokyo, far as I've heard. I talked to Miasma, and she said neither of em have shown up at Mugenkan. She _did_ say that Mima's been hangin' around there, though."

"Weird." Neither of them had seen much of Mima since her return to Gensokyo. Reimu was perfectly fine with this, but Marisa was disappointed that she hadn't had a chance to catch up with her old magic tutor. "Sukuna probably had the worst luck of anyone during this whole Rumia and Kana ordeal, though."

"What'd they do to Sukuna?"

"You don't _want_ to know what they did to Sukuna," Reimu said in the most serious tone Marisa had probably ever heard out of her friend. She didn't push the subject. She decided she _didn't_ want to know. "She'll probably be traumatized for life."

"That bad, huh?" Marisa sighed again. The two then heard the sound of Reimu's bed being thrown off of the roof, where it then landed on the shrine's main pathway with a splintering crash. Kana laughed loudly from above them, which was followed by a thud against the roof, and some exchange of dialogue between the two that Marisa couldn't make out. "... Guess they're still up there." Reimu groaned again, and slumped forward onto the table, cradling the top of her head with her hands. "What are we gonna do about these two, huh? I don't think we can let this go on forever, ya know."

"Hope they get bored." It was not the answer Marisa was hoping for. She gave Reimu an incredulous look. "I can't _fight_ them off by myself, Marisa. Maybe Kana, if she was by herself. But Rumia would wipe the floor with me."

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself," Marisa said. "You did pretty good against Rumia back in Makai, remember? You were the first one that got free of those shadow copies of us that she made. You prolly would've finished her off by yourself, if she didn't get that big power boost from the atmosphere out in Makai."

"I still had help from the rest of you," Reimu pointed out. "Miasma's the one who nearly beat Rumia to a pulp. _Twice._ And Alice was the one that finished the job at the end."

"We all worked together, yeah. But we wouldn't have won if you weren't there, either. Come on Reimu, you're one of the strongest people I know.~"

"Not strong enough to beat Rumia," she muttered quietly.

"Yukari's not even strong enough to beat Rumia on her own! You remember she said that Yuuka had to help her out to even manage to seal her powers? But you, Miasma, and Alice all nearly beat Rumia during that first fight here in the shrine. That sounds like a hell of a lot better than even Yukari and Yuuka managed to do." Marisa stood up, and walked toward Reimu. She dropped onto the floor beside her friend, and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Don't be so down on yourself. You just get grumpy when you're tired, ze.~"

"Ugh, whatever." Reimu didn't even move. She was practically speaking directly into the table now.

"Well hey, how 'bout I bring Alice and Miasma along tomorrow? If those two are still around causin' trouble, the four of us can chase em back to Makai."

"Fine." Reimu slumped off of the table entirely, finally, and collapsed on her side against the floor. "But you'd better tell those idiots up there that they owe me a new bed."

Marisa glanced back outside, and once again took notice of the broken remains of Reimu's old bed lying in front of the shrine. "Hah, yeah. You got it, ze.~ Maybe I'll blast em off your roof when I leave, huh?"

"Then _you're_ going to owe me a new roof."

"Trust me Reimu, I think you're gonna want a whole new _shrine_ after everythin' those two have done in here."


	12. Chapter 12: Youmu

**Chapter 12: Youmu**

* * *

Winter in Gensokyo that year would long be remembered for the trouble caused by Rumia and Kana; both for their initial violent rampage, and the less deadly antics that ensued in the following months.

Spring had arrived, however. And with it, Rumia and Kana seemed to have ceased their activities. It had been almost two weeks since they'd left the Hakurei Shrine, and they had put in very few appearances over the few days following their departure. In the most recent week, no one outside of Makai had claimed to have seen either of them at all. Nor had anyone really ventured into Makai to seek them out, either. No one in Gensokyo was quite so insane.

Most of those who attended the Netherworld flower viewing party (though it was more of a social gathering and celebration than anything else) that day were quite glad that those two had not decided to make an appearance as of yet. Although Youmu was not quite so glad to see how many people actually _did_ turn up. She couldn't consider herself surprised, though. It was the first of any sort of major celebration since before Rumia's first appearance, and Yuyuko had sought to invite half of Gensokyo, it seemed. By the look of things, almost everyone she'd invited had shown up.

Youmu didn't bother trying to put names to everyone she saw, it was too hard to keep track, though she took note of a few of the larger groups that had shown up. Remilia and Sakuya had shown up from the Scarlet Devil Mansion, along with a small collection of her fairy maid servants. Near Remilia was the tengu reporter, Aya. Reimu and Marisa were talking with the group from the Moriya Shrine not far from the mansion's group. Ran kept a close eye on Chen, who seemed to be wandering around on her own, while Yukari conversed with Yuyuko close by. Youmu noticed Byakuren and Utsuho talking with Miasma and Hana. Curiously, she didn't notice many others from the Myouren Temple, and absolutely no one else from underground (she could've sworn that Yuyuko had sent invitations to the underground youkai as well, so it was rather odd that not a single one had shown up).

There was one person in particular that Youmu did not recognize that caught her interest; the ghostly-looking woman with dark green hair floating near Yuuka Kazami, where the two seemed to be keeping to themselves. She was not a person that Youmu knew, yet she sensed that the woman must have been extremely powerful, and of some renown. Youmu turned to look at Yomi, who had been silent for quite some time now, observing the interactions of the various party attendees. "Sensei," Youmu asked, "do you know that woman talking with Yuuka?"

Yomi glanced in Yuuka's direction and narrowed her eyes. She gazed at the two with such intensity that Youmu imagined she must have been trying to listen in on their conversation. "That's Mima," she said, finally. "An evil spirit, and a powerful mage."

"So _that's_ Mima?" Youmu had heard stories from Reimu about her, but had never met her personally, or known what she looked like. No one had told her that Mima had returned to Gensokyo after all these years. "How do you know her?"

"I met both her and Yuuka Kazami many years ago, when Lady Yuyuko was still alive. She was troublesome back then, and I've been keeping an eye on her ever since she arrived." Youmu knew surprisingly little about her new master's past; Yomi tended to keep those things secret.

Over the past several weeks since Rumia's defeat in Makai, Yomi had offered to train Youmu to become what she considered to be a _proper_ swordswoman. Needless to say, her training was intense, and at times, even harsh. Youmu had used this time to try and learn about her sensei's past, and her relationship with Lady Yuyuko, but had learned very little. She could only say for certain that Yomi had served Yuyuko at least until the time of her death, and that she'd left the Netherworld near the outbreak of the Lunar War. Despite having been gone for so long, however, Yomi knew surprisingly much about many of Gensokyo's residents; even those she'd never met personally.

Youmu glanced between Yomi and the evil spirit, Mima. Yomi seemed to be carefully analyzing the other's every action, from how she laughed at something Yuuka whispered to her, to the way she'd scan the crowd of party goers. "She doesn't seem to be causing any trouble, sensei. Shouldn't we try to relax, and at least enjoy the party for a bit?

"There's much to be learned from your enemies, even in times of peace, Youmu." Yomi knelt down beside her student, and placed a hand on her shoulder, directing her to look at Mima. "You need to be aware of their actions at all times. You can see that she has been wary to leave Yuuka's presence the whole time she's been here, and the only others I've seen her speak with have been that young woman, Marisa, and the other members of Yuuka's own household. What does this tell you?"

Youmu thought about the question carefully. A wrong answer could reflect badly on her own attentiveness, especially after her weeks of training with Yomi. "Mima has been gone from Gensokyo for about a decade, so..." Youmu glanced through the gathering of people in the Hakugyokurou, and finally realized what she _hoped_ Yomi was trying to relate. "... she doesn't _know_ most of the people here today. Byakuren and the Moriya Shrine only appeared in Gensokyo recently, and Remilia only gained real notoriety after the Scarlet Mist Incident, which was _after_ Mima left."

Yomi smiled (a rare thing) and then stood back to her full height. "Very good Youmu. But take note of how she scans the crowd." Youmu had noticed this as well. Whenever the conversation between Mima and Yuuka would fall silent for a time, Mima would peer through gathering of humans, youkai, and some others. "I believe she's looking for _someone_ in particular. Someone from Gensokyo that she knows, but isn't here."

"Do you have any idea who she might be looking for?" Youmu asked. She was amazed by Yomi's powers of observation, as she never would've reached the same conclusion on her own.

Yomi merely shook her head, and did not speak. Mima happened to glance in their direction, and noticed the two staring. She grinned, and offered Yomi a casual wave, wiping the smile from the woman's face. "I have my suspicions that those two are hiding _something,_ but we won't discuss that in such a crowded setting.

Youmu might have tried to prod Yomi with further questions, but Yuyuko drifted over, and put their conversation to a stop before it could even begin. "Oh, Yomi.~ You don't have to be so serious all the time, dear." She latched herself onto Yomi's side, and gave her a brief kiss on the cheek. Yomi flushed a light pink, and turned her head away from Yuyuko with her eyes closed.

 _"Someone_ needs to be serious around here," she stated. "Between you and that gap youkai friend of yours, I'm surprised you haven't trashed this place. At least Youmu _tried_ to keep you in line."

"Oh, that hurts Yomi.~" Yuyuko gave the other woman a look that seemed almost sad. "You were _never_ so mean when I was younger. In fact, I seem to remember that you-"

"T-that's enough about the past, Lady Yuyuko." Yomi tried to pry herself free of Yuyuko's hold, and the ghostly woman relented, with a satisfied giggle. If all she'd wanted was to fluster Yomi a bit, than she'd succeeded.

That was another matter that irked Youmu to some degree. She had seen the way Yuyuko and Yomi acted around each other, and could speculate that there was _something_ between the two. Or at least, there had been. Yomi was as guarded about that as she was about everything else, and Yuyuko was simply Yuyuko. Youmu could never get a straight answer out of her, even if she'd asked directly. She was grateful and honored for Yomi's training, but she couldn't help but feel like a third wheel. But, then again, perhaps she felt the same way sometimes about Yuyuko and Yukari as well... Maybe she was just overly protective of Yuyuko, and had a habit of becoming more jealous than she should have.

Yuyuko hovered over toward Youmu, seeming to ignore Yomi for the moment, and nudged her from behind. "Youmu dear, why don't you go out and enjoy the party, and have some fun with your little friends? You put so much effort into helping us put this together, you really should go enjoy yourself.~"

"You... aren't just saying that to try and get me to leave, are you Lady Yuyuko?"

Yuyuko looked almost offended by the mere notion. "No, of course not!" Yuyuko pouted, and suddenly, Youmu was the one that felt bad. Yuyuko seemed to make a habit of _that_ as well. "I can have my alone time with Yomi _any_ time I want." Yomi made an irritable grunt. "You don't need to be so _jealous_ all the time, Youmu dear.~"

Youmu merely sighed. She knew, of course, that Yuyuko was right. When was she ever not? Through all of her crazy whims, Yuyuko was _always_ right in the end, it seemed. There was just no point in arguing. "Yes, Lady Yuyuko."

"You don't need to sound so depressed about having _fun,_ Youmu.~" Yuyuko said, teasingly.

"Yes, Lady Yuyuko," Youmu sighed. Yuyuko shook her head with a look of exasperation. Youmu simply resigned herself to obeying Yuyuko's request to leave the two alone, and go join the rest of the party.

Youmu was barely even paying attention to the words and reactions of those around her, but it didn't take long for her to realize the unsettling silence that had fallen through the crowd. Unwittingly, Youmu had stepped almost directly into the source of the unease that gripped everyone; the growing, swirling mass of foggy darkness that had gathered near the center of the party space. By the time she'd finally noticed (or rather, she stepped right into it), Youmu collided directly with the shadowy figure emerging from within it.

Youmu fell sprawling to the ground with a cry of surprise. "Oh! Sorry, sorry!" came the voice of the woman who'd emerged from the shadows. Rumia stepped over, kneeling toward Youmu with her hand outstretched. "Are you okay?"

Youmu panicked, and scrambled away from the dark youkai, back toward Yuyuko and Yomi. Rumia frowned slightly, having been spurned by the half-ghost girl. Shinki stepped out from the darkness next, and placed a comforting hand on Rumia's shoulder, who stood back to her full height. "Sorry we're so late," Shinki apologized, mostly to Yuyuko.

Of course, it wasn't _really_ the so-called 'evil Rumia' that Youmu had bumped into, but the 'good Rumia' that had been split off from the original. Even those in Gensokyo who hadn't met this other Rumia, who had now taken to calling herself 'Rumi' so that people could differentiate between the two more easily, knew about what Yukari had done. Youmu was well aware of this, but bumping into either Rumia like that would've given just about anyone a fright.

Youmu turned her head to look back at Yuyuko. "You sent invites to _Makai_ too...!?"

"Well of _course_ I did, silly Youmu.~" Yuyuko answered. "I sent invites to _everyone_ in Gensokyo that I know. _Both_ Rumias included." Yuyuko turned to face the newly arrived couple from Makai, and gave the two a friendly smile. "I'm glad you both could make it. Are Rumia and Kana coming as well?"

"Afraid not," Rumi said. "We asked, but Rumia said they had other plans."

"At least we have _that_ to be grateful for," Kanako proclaimed rather loudly. "Those two cause nothing but trouble everywhere they go." Rumi simply stared down to the ground, looking almost ashamed of herself.

"Oh, don't be so hard on those two, Kanako," Yuyuko said. "If anything, they've livened Gensokyo up a bit lately.~ And they aren't hurting anyone, are they?"

"I don't suppose those two trashed _your_ home, did they?"

"And _besides_ that," Yuyuko continued, ignoring Kanako's response, "I seem to recall how much trouble _you_ caused everywhere you went, not so long ago. Or did I simply imagine that~?"

Kanako glared sharply at the ghostly princess, but said nothing. Yuyuko had made her point plainly enough, and to argue it would only be making herself look worse.

"I think I actually agree with Yuyuko," Remilia said, as she approached Rumi and Shinki, with the rest of her mansion's residents in tow. "All anyone did since we beat Rumia in Makai was mope around, trying to figure out whatever the hell actually happened."

"Mistress... _please_ remember about the thing I told you to keep secret." Sakuya frowned down at her vampire mistress, who seemed to consider what Sakuya had reminded her about, before she considered speaking again. "And besides that... I can't believe you'd _still_ side with Rumia after everything she did at the mansion."

Remilia shrugged her shoulders. "I got you out of the basement before Flandre could do anything _really_ bad, didn't I?"

"That's not the point!"

"Even _I_ have to say, that Rumia has proven herself to be nothing more than a nuisance," Aya said, from near the mansion group. "I tried to set up an interview with the two of them merely a few days ago. Rumia even agreed to it, telling me to meet her outside of Makai the very next morning." Aya sighed heavily. "I suspected that they would be late, but I ended up waiting there for three hours before I finally returned home, only to find that they'd trashed my office while I was waiting for them."

A few members of the crowd laughed quietly to themselves at this; Yuyuko being among them. Perhaps the situation was amusing to those that had not actually been on the receiving end of Rumia and Kana's antics, and were merely witnessing the aftermath of their actions toward others. Youmu knew full well that Rumia had never actually paid the Netherworld a visit, so it was no wonder that Yuyuko found it so funny.

"I didn't think they'd been _that_ bad..." Rumi seemed to be somewhat saddened by the news of her counterpart's actions. "Rumia told us yesterday that they hadn't been to Gensokyo at all in almost a week."

"The two of them spent _several_ days at my shrine before they disappeared for a while," Reimu said. "Good riddance to them. Hopefully they'll _stay_ in Makai from now on."

"Oh, don't be so hard on those two," Shinki responded. "They've just been a bit restless, is all."

"They really _have_ calmed down a lot since this whole thing started," Rumi continued. She smiled up at Shinki, and hugged the taller woman around the waist. "I'm sure things will calm down even more once Kana has her baby."

A wave of shocked muttering and a few baffled outcries of confusion moved its way throughout the gathering. "What do ya mean Kana's havin' a baby!?" was Marisa's particular exclamation.

Rumi and Shinki looked at each other, concerned, before Shinki turned to address the confused and outraged people of Gensokyo. "We... thought you must have known by now. Didn't they tell you?"

"She didn't tell anyone anything, as far as I know!" Reimu said, coming up to the two from Makai. "When did this even _happen?_ I didn't even know poltergeists _could_ have children..."

"Well, Kana told _me_ about... two weeks ago now?" If Rumi's knowledge was to be trusted, then it was clear that the two had known for quite some time during their little 'rampage' across Gensokyo. Had they only found out recently, perhaps that might have explained their recent absence. "I'm surprised they didn't tell anyone... I thought that was why they left Makai all those times after we found out."

"All they've done is cause trouble." There were some other muttered agreements in the group, but most were kept between themselves and those closest in proximity, whereas only Reimu and the few others nearby spoke to Rumi or Shinki directly. "I can't believe you two still _let_ them live in Makai. I can't begin to imagine how much worse they must act toward everyone there."

"Actually, we don't hear much of them," Shinki said to Reimu. "They tend to keep to themselves. I couldn't get rid of them even if I tried, Reimu. I have no idea where they actually live."

"It's your world though, ain't it? Shouldn't ya be able to track em down?" Marisa asked. Shinki merely smiled, and shook her head.

"They've concealed themselves with powers beyond even _my_ understanding. Although I _do_ have an idea where they might be hiding... but I'd rather not get involved in their business."

"I think we should be happy for them, anyway," Rumi said, mostly toward Reimu and Marisa, but also speaking loudly enough so that almost anyone would have heard her. "I think having a baby will probably calm those two down considerably."

Youmu looked at both Reimu and Marisa, who still seemed doubtful, and then toward Rumi and Shinki. She had not yet encountered Rumia or Kana since that day in Makai, and so she could not be sure. "Well... even if it doesn't... they should both at least be pretty busy taking care of the child to spend too much time in Gensokyo from now on, don't you think?"

"Any spawn of Rumia is likely to be the same as her," Yomi announced suddenly. It was the first time she'd spoken to anyone but Youmu or Yuyuko since the start of the party, and no one had expected her to speak. "Rumia is a sadist and a psychopath, and Kana is a mentally unstable child, at best. We may be rid of them for a few months, but any child those two raise together will only be a threat to the stability of Gensokyo."

"I really don't think they're _that_ bad-"

"I'd sooner have them both killed before they can bring that child into the world," Yomi said, cutting off Rumi before she could even finish. Her harsh words were followed by an almost complete silence, with no one sure how to follow up on them. Even Youmu was shocked by her master's drastic opinion. The thought of killing Rumia and Kana, especially now that she was pregnant, was almost too horrifying to consider. Even _if_ they were talking about Rumia and Kana, of all people.

"No one is _killing_ anyone!" Shinki shouted back at Yomi. The elder swordswoman crossed her arms, and glared silently at the Makai goddess. "Haven't we had _enough_ of that already? Suppose you _do_ go after Rumia and Kana. How many more will die trying to take them down?"

"I don't really... _agree_ with Yomi." Miasma stepped up, and glanced between Yomi, and the Makai duo uncertainly. She then glanced over at Yuuka, and almost seemed to shy away back toward Byakuren and Hana. Yet, she continued nonetheless. "We probably shouldn't go after them. But _someone_ should probably keep an eye on them. To make sure that they don't start planning another _actual_ attack on Gensokyo."

Yomi stared over at the young half-youkai girl for a moment, closed her eyes, and then turned around, and stepped back toward Yuyuko, having no more so say. Miasma seemed to be relieved for that, at least. "I haven't forgotten all the people that Rumia has killed. Including my mom. _You_ should know that better than anyone," she said to Rumi.

"Yes, I remember..." Rumi agreed. "We'll do our best to keep an eye on them, whenever possible."

"Now, Yomi.~ Look what you did, killing the mood like that." Yuyuko could be heard scolding Yomi, as she led the other woman off, away from the rest of the partygoers. "You _really_ need to lighten up sometimes. I would've thought after all these years, you might have learned that.~"

"As _you've_ done, no doubt?" Yomi asked. Her question was met with a surprisingly stern look from the Netherworld princess. "... Understood, Lady Yuyuko."

"Good! The rest of you enjoy the party, now.~" Yuyuko said to everyone else, her smile and casual demeanor returning. "Youmu, be a dear, and make sure to clean up once everyone else has gone.~"

With that, Yuyuko and Yomi departed, leaving Youmu to deal with managing the party all by herself. At the very least, with Yomi gone, some of the tension had lifted, and conversation resumed among the guests. Although, almost all of it was centered on Rumia and Kana in one way or another. One question at least remained unanswered, even by Rumi or Shinki; where had Rumia and Kana gone that day instead of the Netherworld?


	13. Chapter 13: Eirin

**Chapter 13: Eirin**

* * *

"I do hope you both realize, this _is_ a bit outside my area of expertise," Eirin said. Though she spoke as kindly as she could manage, her words were met with a sharp glare from the darkness youkai, against the wall with her arms crossed. Rumia's lips curled into a silent snarl, baring her sharpened teeth. "We don't _have_ phantoms on the moon, and the most I've ever seen here on Earth have been youkai _rabbit_ pregnancies."

"What you're telling me, then, is that you're completely useless." Rumia's ignorance was almost painful. Eirin forced herself to retain the friendly smile on her face, despite the steadily building irritation within her. Pushing Rumia into another violent rage was not high on her to-do list.

"Not quite, Rumia," she answered. "You might be forgetting, but I've been around since Lunarian society was first founded, and I even knew Lord Tsukiyomi personally." And though she did not care to divulge them, she was aware of quite a few of his secrets; including a few of his other identities, and the knowledge of his untimely demise. "I have also lived on Earth for over a thousand years. Despite the fact that I've never dealt with this _specific_ sort of pregnancy before, I have at least some knowledge that will be of use."

"Oh, it'll be fine, Rumia.~" Kana told the other woman. Kana sat on the examining table of Eirin's office. Though she was pregnant, that much Eirin could certainly confirm, her body showed no sign of it. "So, moon lady! Tell us what you know!" Kana, unlike Rumia, was at least in a rather amicable mood. She sat there, lazily kicking her feet, as though she were acting like an antsy child.

"Well, nothing definite, aside from the fact that you _are_ in fact pregnant." Eirin pulled up the chair from her desk, and sat on the front side of it, directly in front of Kana. "Yours is the first known instance of a poltergeist pregnancy I've ever heard of. Particular, when the other partner was not a poltergeist herself."

"Does it really make that big of a difference, doc~?" Kana asked. "Poltergeists aren't really _dead_ like ghosts, because we never really lived in the first place! So it should be fine, right?"

"The fact that Rumia is in fact a _living_ creature is probably beneficial to the safety of your child. Take the Konpaku family, for example. I know you've both met the young Youmu Konpaku, who works beneath the princess of the Netherworld, and are aware of her half-phantom nature. At some unknown point in her family's past, a human and a ghost interbred, and the first half-phantom Konpaku was born." Although, with Yomi Konpaku being neither human nor ghost, but rather a hannya youkai, Eirin had some doubts about the legitimacy of the Konpaku family's humanity.

"Youmu is living, or at least half-living, proof that a child between a living being and a phantom can survive. And since poltergeists are neither alive nor dead, I would say the odds of your child surviving are remarkably higher." Eirin then turned her gaze over toward Rumia. The darkness youkai met the doctor's eyes. "However, given Rumia's rather... dubious origins... I'm afraid I can't exactly predict _what_ will happen."

Rumia seemed to visibly flinch at Eirin's words, but only for a split second. By the time Kana turned to look at her partner, she'd seemed unfazed. "And just what are you trying to imply, Eirin?"

"Nothing at all, Rumia." Eirin smiled. For as dangerous as her present situation was, Eirin couldn't deny there was some thrill to be had in toying with Rumia. "But if I can't say for certain what species of youkai you truly _are,_ I cannot in all honestly assure the safety of your unborn child. Or Kana's well-being, for that matter."

For the first time since their arrival, a worrisome look spread its way across Kana's face. Eirin could almost pity her. Where Rumia was unquestionably a depraved and vile creature, Kana still had the mindset of an impressionable and awkward child whose state was the sole fault of her creator. "Rumia?"

Rumia looked over at Kana, and saw the sad expression in her eyes. Even Rumia herself seemed to display a twinge of actual concern for once, to Eirin's surprise. _Does Rumia actually harbor some emotional attachment to this girl?_ Eirin wondered. Until that moment, she believed Rumia only viewed Kana as little more than her partner in crime. Perhaps that was how their relationship had started, anyway, but there was clearly at least _something_ between them.

"What's she talking about, Rumia? Is she saying you're not actually a youkai?" Kana asked again, breaking the silence.

Rumia said nothing, and she averted her gaze from the poltergeist's. Eirin smiled, and stood from her chair. "Why don't we talk outside, Rumia." Eirin gestured her hand toward the hallway door.

Rumia regarded Eirin suspiciously for a few moments, and then uncrossed her arms. "Fine," she replied. As she strode toward the door, Kana made a move to get up as well. Rumia only held out her hand to stop Kana, without even looking back at her, or breaking her stride. "You stay there, Kana. I'll make this quick."

"This will only take a few moments, Kana," Eirin assured the girl. "I believe this is something Rumia wishes to keep to herself."

Rumia grunted a sound of acknowledgement as she threw the door open. From the other side, Eirin heard the sound of various youkai rabbits scurrying away from her office. "You better fucking run!" Rumia screeched at them. "If I catch any of you listening in again, I'm going to make rabbit fucking soup tonight!"

"I'm afraid the majority of them are not very intelligent enough to heed your warning for very long." Eirin said to Rumia, before shutting the door behind her. "But you probably scared them away long enough to keep them from eavesdropping on our conversation."

"I'm not giving them the chance." Rumia placed her hand on the door, and began to cover its surface in black shadows. The darkness spread until not only was the entire door was consumed, but a black dome of darkness surrounded the two. "Just how much do you think you know, moon bitch?"

"Calling me names certainly isn't going to help you, Rumia."

"And I don't think having your organs rearranged is going to help _you."_

"I think you'd find that killing _me_ isn't quite so easy, Rumia." Eirin offered the woman a sly smile. "Do you really believe that the princess is the _only_ person in Eientei to have consumed the Hourai Elixir?"

This news seemed to surprise Rumia. It wasn't common knowledge that Eirin was also a Hourai immortal, just like the princess Kaguya, but Eirin also had no doubts that a few of the more intelligent and older residents of Gensokyo had figured it out. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Rumia finally replied. "I'd heard you refused to return to the moon, when they pardoned your princess for drinking the elixir. But if they found out that _you_ had become immortal, that would make _you_ another fugitive as well, now wouldn't it?"

"Indeed it would. I've never even told my former students this, so I trust that you'll keep my secret." Rumia was not the most trustworthy individual, but the youkai had her _own_ secrets to keep. And a person with secrets of their own could always be trusted to want to keep them hidden. "Now that I've told you my secret, you can confirm yours to me. I know that you are the daughter of Lord Tsukiyomi. I also suspect that you are the one who murdered him."

"Lord Tsukiyomi?" Rumia appeared to process the name, and came to a recognition a short moment later. "That's not the name I knew her by. But it's close enough."

"No, I didn't think it was. Tsukiyomi _did_ enjoy visiting the Earth from time to time, but he always liked to form new identities for himself when he left the Capital." Eirin was not aware of _all_ of his other personas, but she knew enough. She'd known Tsukiyomi longer than anyone, aside from perhaps Amaterasu, Susanoo, or Mugen herself. "If I were to guess, I'd say you would have known her as Selena Marama, correct?" The way Rumia flinched at the name was just as good as any verbal confirmation. "I thought so. You _do_ look quite a bit like Selena."

"Yeah, whatever." Rumia's mood soured at the mere thought of the woman, that much was clear. "She tried to murder me, you know. In case you're wondering _why_ I killed her."

This was quite the startling revelation to even Eirin. The Tsukiyomi she'd known was not the type who would have tried to kill his own child for no reason. "That is... rather shocking, I must say."

"I guess your precious _Tsukiyomi_ wasn't so high and mighty like you thought, huh? I guess she thought I'd grow up to be some kinda _monster,_ so she tried to do away with me." Rumia spread her arms, and bared her teeth in a wicked grin. "I guess she was right, wasn't she~? Too bad for her, she made the mistake of attacking me on the night of the full moon. For all the power she got from it, mine was still greater, even as a child."

"As Lord Tsukiyomi's closest living relative, I'd like to apologize on his behalf." Now, at least, Eirin had nearly the full picture of Rumia's origins. She could sympathize to some degree how she'd ended up the violent creature she was, though she certainly couldn't condone her actions. "Setting the matter of Tsukiyomi aside, or Selena if you prefer, that leaves your other parent. Do you know of their identity?"

"No, I don't."

"Unfortunate. But, I don't think it matters." Eirin gave Rumia a reassuring smile. "Your being at least half-goddess bodes well for the well-being of both Kana and your unborn child. The partial divine nature of the child should ensure that it won't simply be dead on delivery."

"That's all, then?" Rumia asked. The youkai (or perhaps demi-goddess?) seemed to show some sign of relief.

"Well, there's still the issue of the child's rate of development. Despite Kana's body not showing any outward signs of the pregnancy, the child is developing unusually quickly, even after taking its partial divinity into account." Although, this had proven to be a rather difficult conclusion to ascertain due to Kana's phantom biology. "By my guess, the child could be born anywhere from two weeks, to three months. So we'll need to keep an eye on the progress of its development."

"I'm not stopping by here every fucking week for another check-up," Rumia growled out. She waved her arm, finally dispersing the darkness that had surrounded them. Sure enough, a small crowd of youkai rabbits had gathered around where the border of the darkness had been, where they had surely been trying to listen in. Equally unsurprising, was how rapidly they dispersed upon seeing Rumia.

"No need. I'll assign my assistant, Reisen, to stay with you and monitor Kana's pregnancy in my stead." Rumia shrugged her shoulders, as a resigned gesture of acceptance. "Try not to be _too_ harsh on the poor girl. I'd like her to be returned intact."

"We'll see about that." Rumia chuckled softly. "I can't promise anything about her _mental_ well-being."

"Well, then I believe that covers everything." Eirin released a soft sigh. "I'll send for Reisen later, then, after I finish explaining the situation to Kana. Hopefully we'll even be done in time for me to take the princess to the Netherworld flower viewing party."


	14. Chapter 14: Miasma (I)

**Chapter 14: Miasma (I)**

* * *

"God sis, you're so _slow!"_ Hana said, as she darted circles around her older half-sister, her golden wings of light fluttering with her every move. In fact, she moved so quickly it appeared more like she was locally teleporting. "I wanna get to the shrine already!"

"I would've let you go on by on your own, but Yuuka said you weren't allowed to go out by yourself! And taking care of you is my job." Although Miasma was quickly realizing that as Hana continued to grow up, she was going to have an increasingly difficult time watching her. Hana was less than half a year old, and yet she already resembled a human child of eight or nine. Just in the three months since Rumia had been defeated, Hana had grown immensely. She was becoming increasingly outgoing, and restless as well. Hana never seemed to be happy just sitting around Mugenkan all day, and constantly wanted to go out and explore Gensokyo.

"Well that's why you gotta go _faster,_ sis!" Worse still, Miasma couldn't keep up with Hana's speed and level of eagerness and curiosity. Much of Gensokyo was still a mystery to Miasma as well, just as it was to Hana, but the younger girl never could remain fixated on any one thing for very long it seemed. Miasma couldn't tell if Hana lacked the attention span to focus for too long, or if her mind moved along as quickly as _she_ did. Some combination of the two, she supposed, since Hana didn't quite seem quite so intelligent most of the time.

"Well, maybe _you_ just need to slow down!" Miasma carefully watched Hana's movements, and waited for her time to strike. When the opportunity presented itself, and Hana darted within arm's reach, Miasma reached out and grabbed her younger sister.

"Hey, no fair sis!" Hana squirmed about, trying to writhe herself free from Miasma's grasp, but with no luck. "You're stronger than me, you can't go grabbing me like that!"

"If I didn't, you were going to keep flying circles around me until I got dizzy. Do you want me falling over and slowing you down even _more?"_ Hana at least gave up her struggles, but she was now visibly pouting. Miasma smiled down at her sister, and continued walking. They were close to the shrine now at least. It was the first time either of them had stopped by since the time Rumia and Kana had spent three days harassing Reimu, and the first time they'd seen Reimu at all since the Netherworld party a few weeks back.

There hadn't been much time to catch up lately, with all of the uproar involving Kana's pregnancy. It had become apparent that Yomi was not the only one thinking that the best option was the deaths of Rumia and Kana. The majority of the citizens of the Human Village seemed to share her view, as well as the few scattered supporters of Miko that had remained after her death. Last time Miasma had heard, Reimu had become very busy trying to keep the peace.

Looking forward, Miasma saw that they had finally reached the base of the stone steps leading up toward the Hakurei Shrine. Seeing this, she released her grip on her younger sister. "Alright Hana, you can run ahead if you want."

"Yay! Thanks sis~!" Hana quickly flew up and gave her sister a tight hug (Hana was surprisingly strong for being so young, but she still couldn't compare to Miasma), and then disappeared in a bright flash.

Miasma sighed. She loved her sister, she truly did, but Hana was nothing if not a handful. But if it weren't for Hana being born, Miasma realized, she probably never would've found her home in Mugenkan. Though, Yuuka really _wasn't_ much of a mother to her. But Elly, it seemed, was more than happy to act in the surrogate role for both Miasma and her sister. It was the closest Miasma ever had to a loving family, at the very least.

Miasma's thoughts began to drift toward Medicine again by the time she reached the front walkway, and it was a bitter thing to dwell on. Her relationship with Medicine had been anything but a happy one, but Miasma still regretted never having the chance to try and patch things up. That was a chance Rumia had taken away from her forever. On two occasions, in fact. Miasma was not ignorant of the original history that had been concealed by The Voidborn, as Reimu had informed her shortly after Miasma's first run-in with Mima several months back.

Rumia was really the last person Miasma wanted to see (but then again, who aside from Kana would ever _want_ to see Rumia?), but she happened to be the very first person Miasma's eyes fell upon as she entered the shrine. She stood in the back corner of the main room, and her slight smile faded into a darkened scowl as she noticed Miasma's presence. It was an expression that Miasma readily returned to the dark youkai.

"'ey, there you are, Miasma!" called the cheery voice of Marisa from the opposite side of the table in the room. "We saw Hana barge her way in here just a few minutes ago, we figured you had to be comin' up close behind."

"Yeah. Hana got a little impatient, so I let her go on ahead." Miasma scanned the room, and noticed a few things rather odd about the gathering of people inside the shrine. Reimu, of course, was to be expected. But sitting between Reimu and Marisa was Mima, the ghostly woman that Miasma had met a few days after the confrontation in Makai. Closest to the front door of the shrine, on the opposite side of the table of those three, sat Kana, Hana, and Reisen, who Miasma only recognized from the day she'd been at the shrine, when they'd held the meeting on how to handle Rumia; the same day that Lilith had also convinced them to entrust the souls of the Human Village to her.

"Why are _you_ here?" Miasma asked of Reisen specifically. She'd noticed the rather dejected expression on the rabbit girl's expression, and it was quite clear that she was uncomfortable in her current situation.

Reisen sighed, and raised her head to look at Miasma, with a polite smile. "Master Eirin ordered me to keep an eye on Kana's condition, and to stay with her until she goes into labor." The poor girl trembled as she merely thought about it. "It's... been a long few weeks..."

"Yup~! Reisen's been having all kinds of fun, staying with us in Makai for a while.~" Kana placed her hand on Reisen's shoulder, causing her to flinch slightly. Miasma didn't even want to think about what 'all kinds of fun' entailed.

Kana decided to ignore Reisen for the time being, however, and instead drifted toward Hana, who giggled with delight. "Oh, but Miasma! You never told me your sister was so positively _cute!_ Isn't she just the cutest, Rumia?"

"Sure. Whatever." Rumia's gaze never strayed far from Miasma. It seemed she could sense the obvious hostility that Miasma harbored toward her, and it must have darkened the youkai's mood considerably.

"Oh, don't be such a grump. We're having fun, aren't we?" Kana stuck her tongue out at Rumia, and then grinned cheerily back at Reimu and Marisa. "See? We aren't so bad, are we~?"

"You're both still pretty bad," was Reimu's response. "But at least you aren't trashing my shrine. Again."

"Wouldn't dream of it.~ ... Well, maybe just a little." Kana turned back toward Miasma, and patted the floor beside her and Hana. "Well, don't just stand there in the doorway with that dumb look on your face. Come on, sit down already.~"

Miasma sighed, and, rather reluctantly, sat down beside the two. Once she had, Hana happily hopped over into her sister's lap, and greeted her with a cheery look. Miasma patted the young girl's head, and then glanced across the table toward Mima. "Where'd _you_ run off to for the last few weeks, anyway?"

"I didn't 'run off' anywhere, really," Mima responded casually. "Why, did you miss me~?"

"Absolutely not." If anything, Miasma was glad to have been rid of Mima's presence for the last few weeks. All she ever really did was poke fun at Miasma when she was around, and shower Hana with praises whenever they were _both_ around. It was like Mima was purposely _trying_ to infuriate her sometimes.

"You've been hangin' out with Miasma all this time or somethin'?" Marisa asked. Mima merely smiled back at her former student. "You only stopped by to visit me once, and you still didn't tell me where you've been all this time!"

"Oh, hush Marisa.~ I'll tell you some other time." Mima blew off Marisa's questions with a casual wave of her hand. Marisa merely sighed. It was fairly obvious that Mima had no intention of actually telling her anything. "And no, I was not 'hanging out' with Miasma. Really, she's not _nearly_ interesting enough to warrant my attention. People who use nothing but brute force are so boring.~"

"All she does is run off with Yuuka in private most of the time," Miasma clarified, not bothering to address Mima's last few biting statements. Though she did meet them with a brief stern look in the spirit woman's direction. "Usually they go off to that Dream World entrance in the back of the mansion. And Yuuka and Elly both said I shouldn't go back there, so I never bothered trying to find out what those two were doing."

"Ugh, you really don't want to go there, anyway," Reimu groaned. "There's these twin youkai living there, Mugetsu and Gengetsu. They're both _insane."_

"They _are_ sisters, right? God, we were just _kids_ when we met em, Reimu, and even then I had this skeezy feeling from those two, the way the older one makes her sister wear that maid outfit." Marisa shuddered at the thought.

"It's actually quite amusing, watching them bicker with Yuuka when she visits the Dream World," Mima said, with a mild chuckle. "Yuuka didn't want to go back to the Dream World after her first time dealing with those two, but I wanted to meet them for myself, so I eventually got Yuuka to give in. But I will admit, those two are certainly even beyond my comprehension sometimes."

"You still didn't really answer my question, anyway. About where you ran off to the last couple weeks," Miasma repeated.

"Bothering _us,_ apparently." Rumia had spoken up for the first time since Miasma had sat down. She stepped out from the corner of the room, and strode toward the end of the table closest to Kana. "Every time we leave Makai, she ends up finding us. She's getting to be a pain."

"You're saying all this as if I'm not even in the room, you know." Rumia did not even acknowledge Mima's statement.

"Oh, it's _fine_ Rumia.~ Mima's an old friend of mine!" Kana smiled over at Mima. "This was way back, when Reimu and Marisa were still little kids.~ There were these crazy ruins that showed up on the edge of Gensokyo one day, but only one person was allowed to go in. And I beat up everyone so that I could get inside! I beat Reimu, Marisa, and even Mima, too.~ And a bunch of other people who probably weren't important."

"And then you started haunting my shrine on a regular basis for the next ten years. We get it," Reimu merely rolled her eyes. "But I wonder what I would've wished for if I'd gotten in those ruins first..."

"Knowin' you? Probably something to do your work _for_ you, ze.~" Marisa then proceeded to laugh, even as Reimu shoved the other woman over onto the floor. "I think if I had that wish now, I'd probably wish for a bigger house."

"You were a hoarder even when you were a child, Marisa. I'd hate to look at the state of your home _now,"_ Mima said.

"Hey, it's not that bad! I just tried cleaning' it a few weeks ago!"

"Only because _I_ framed you for a bunch of burglaries you probably would have committed even without my help," Rumia pointed out. "Your house got even more trashed when all those humans from the village started barging in to get their things back."

"But most of the stuff you planted was junk, anyway! I wouldn't have taken all that!" Marisa crossed her arms, looking indignantly at Rumia, who smirked mockingly in return.

"Why the fuck _have_ you been following us around, anyway?" Rumia asked Mima, not even bothering to dignify Marisa with a verbal response. "Because it sure as hell hasn't been about catching up with Kana."

Mima gazed silently back at Rumia, contemplating how she should respond, before she finally breathed a soft sigh. "Alright, you got me. You were all I ever heard about ever since my return to Gensokyo, Rumia. And I had to say, I was quite curious to see what you were really like." A tense silence fell between the two. Just looking at Mima, Miasma could tell that she wasn't revealing _all_ of her intentions, and Rumia no doubt realized this as well. "Is that a satisfactory enough answer?" Mima finally said.

"Fine. But you're still hiding something." Rumia dropped down to sit down beside Reisen, who adopted a more worried expression, now that she was stuck between both her and Kana. "I don't feel like pressing the subject now. But don't plan on leaving Gensokyo without telling me what I want to know."

"I wouldn't dream of it, Rumia." Mima smiled, showing some relief in her expression. "Even I know when I am outmatched. And besides that, I don't intend on leaving again anytime soon. I've had my fill of the Outside World for quite a while."

"You went to the Outside World!?" In an instant, Hana had vanished from Miasma's lap, and was gazing expectantly up at Mima from her side. "What's it like, huh? I wanna know, come on, tell me! All mom ever does when I ask is say we can't go out there!"

Mima and Miasma both were a bit taken aback by Hana's sudden movement. Miasma, in fact, had almost been knocked to the floor by how quickly and without warning Hana had moved. Mima sat in stunned silence, as the enthusiastic young girl stared back at her.

"You know, I'm a bit curious too," Miasma said, once she'd regained her composure. "You're probably the only one here who's ever been to the Outside World."

"I've been there," Rumia said, with some slight contempt. "Nothing but humans all living cramped together. It's actually rather disgusting, the way they live. And there's so fucking _many_ of them."

"Rumia's right, honestly." Mima shook her head as though disappointed. "While their technological advancements are quite impressive, they've basically destroyed the world they live in. And they fill their cities with enormous metal towers that make Shinki's fortress look puny in comparison. Not to mention the fact that they seem to constantly be waging war against one another in at least one part of the world at any given time."

Hana continued to stare bright-eyed up at Mima, and it brought a smile to the woman's face. "But they aren't all bad. Their technological advancements are centuries beyond what Gensokyo has developed, and only a tiny fraction of them have ever found their way here. There's very little magic left in the Outside World, but some of the gadgets they've invented over the years make the magic of Gensokyo look trivial."

"That sounds so _cool~!"_

"Yes, I guess it does, doesn't it?" Mima patted the young girl on the head, and Hana giggled cheerily. "Maybe for your birthday next year, I'll see if I can take you to the city. There's a big one not far outside of Gensokyo's border, you know."

"Yeah! I wanna go, I wanna go~!" Once again, Hana darted in a flash of light, and then latched herself onto her sister's arm. "But only if sis gets to come too!"

"Yes, yes.~ I wouldn't dream of separating you two." Mima then turned to face her former student. "What about you, Marisa? Reimu? Have either of you been to the Outside World before?"

"Not really," Marisa said, shrugging. "We went to the moon once though, and I guess we had to pass through the Outside World to do that. And we've had to go to a few places outside of Gensokyo too, like the Netherworld, Heaven, and the former hell."

"Sounds like you two have been busy while I was away. And here I thought Gensokyo would calm down without me around.~"

"Yeah, so did I. But you can see how _that_ turned out," Reimu said, gesturing both arms over at Rumia and Kana, the latter of whom smiled and gave Reimu a friendly wave. Reimu merely groaned again in response. "And then every time I beat a new batch of jerks up, they all start loitering at my shrine!"

"Everyone else is boring though! And they all kick us out before we can have any fun." Kana crossed her arms, and adopted a pouty expression. If she was trying to get Reimu to sympathize with her, it clearly wasn't working.

"Gee, I wonder _why_ they don't want you hanging around." Reimu rolled her eyes. "I really don't care if you two show up and hang out here every once in a while. Just as long as you don't cause trouble."

"Well, that depends on your definition of trouble. Maybe Kana and I might drag Reisen here to your bedroom for a little 'trouble' of our own," Rumia said, with a sly grin. As she leaned in on the cowering lunar rabbit, Rumia began to lick her lips in anticipation. "We've had her all to ourselves for the last few weeks, but we still never had the chance to break her in..."

"None of that in my shrine!" Reimu shouted. Just as Rumia was closing the distance between herself and Reisen, one of Reimu's sealing talismans smacked Rumia in the cheek. Taken by surprise, Rumia fell to the floor with a hiss of anger and pain. When she picked herself back up, she glared fiercely at Reimu. Everyone was on edge, fearing that Rumia might react violently. Reimu met Rumia's eyes, and did not back down.

Kana sighed, and place a calming hand on Rumia's shoulder. Though Rumia showed no immediate reaction, as if she hadn't noticed Kana's touch at all, she did eventually sit back down. "Fine. Killjoy."

Reisen, who was more nervous than anyone, finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you Reimu... I'll be so glad when all this is over."

"Do you know how much longer this whole pregnancy thing is going to take, anyway?" Miasma asked, looking at both Kana and Reisen. The two glanced over at her, and then at each other. Kana shrugged.

"We can't say for sure. But Master Eirin thinks Kana became pregnant shortly after the battle in Makai," Reisen began to explain, "which was about three months ago. She doesn't think it will be much longer. A few weeks, at most, but... because Kana's body doesn't show very many physical indications of her pregnancy, it's hard to say."

"Then... how do you even know she's pregnant at all?"

"Oh, a woman just knows these things, Miasma dear.~" Kana dismissed Miasma's question with a casual wave of her hand.

"I just hope it goes well, honestly," Marisa said, with an awkward laugh. "I'd hate to see what Rumia would do if somethin' happened to Kana or their baby! Even someone like Rumia probably has a soft spot for their own kid."

"I don't give a _shit_ about some unborn brat I have no attachment to." But even those as young as Miasma or Hana could sense the uneasiness to Rumia's tone. Of course, no one would _actually_ call Rumia out on it.

"Well, I don't think anyone has anything to worry about," Mima said, in an attempt to put everyone's concerns to rest. "It's not a common thing, but there have been other instances of children being born between spirits, and youkai, like Rumia." Mima gave the darkness youkai a coy smile. "But because poltergeists, like other spirits, are not quite 'living' creatures, their bodies don't display most of the signs of a natural human pregnancy. And the length of it could last anywhere between two months, to two years, depending on the species of both parents."

"Two _years!?"_ Marisa cried out. "Come on, Mima, that seems a little nuts, dontcha think?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Marisa. Please, tell me _all about_ your experiences with phantom pregnancies. Did you come down with a bit of ghost lust after I left~?"

"Okay, jeez. Ya didn't have to be all snarky about it."

"Well.~ I'm not too worried," Kana said, breaking up the miniature argument between Mima and her former student. "Rumia would _never_ let anything bad happen to me.~ " Kana batted her eyes at Rumia like a love-struck schoolgirl. "All I can hope for is that our baby is at least _half_ as adorable as little Hana here.~"

Hana giggled at the compliment, and Kana patted the young girl's head. Miasma thought about commenting, perhaps saying something against Kana, but decided against it. For as much as she disliked her and Rumia, she decided that Kana at least meant no harm. Not intentionally. She couldn't say the same for Rumia, who she never failed to fix with a sharp look any time the two made eye contact.

The conversations persisted for some time, with Kana and Mima doing most of the talking, reminiscing about old times in Gensokyo. Hana had begun to fidget around uncomfortably, and Miasma was considering taking that time to leave, to visit the Myouren Temple before heading home. The thought was momentarily driven from Miasma's mind when she glanced over at Kana, who had taken on a slightly pained expression without warning. Kana placed a hand to her stomach, and glanced downward. Then, with a bright smile, she looked up at the rest of the guests in the shrine. "Oh, and not to worry all of you or anything.~ But I think I might be going into labor.~"

"Wait, _what!?"_ Marisa's voice rang out, above other similar cries of surprise. Rumia gave a sideways, apprehensive glance at Kana, looking as if she didn't quite believe her.

"Oh, yes.~" Kana answered, with a surprising lack of worry or pain in her voice. "I started feeling it a good while ago, not long after Miasma and her sister got here. But I didn't feel like worrying anyone, since we were having fun.~"

"That's a pretty big thing to just keep to yourself all this time!" Marisa shouted, and clutched her hands to her head in panic. "Shit! Are we supposed to do something!?"

"W-we should go get Master Eirin! She'll know what we should do!" Reisen said, as she bolted upright from her position between Rumia and Kana.

"You are _not_ having that baby in my shrine, damn it!" was most of what Reimu had to say on the matter.

"Honestly, the lot of you are _way_ more concerned than you need to be." Mima rolled her eyes, as she watched Marisa, Reisen, and even Reimu starting to get worked up. Even Miasma had a look of some worry, although Hana just seemed confused by the sudden commotion.

"Well I'm still gonna go get Eirin anyway!" Marisa said. She bolted for the door, and tugged on Reisen's arm as she passed by. "Come on Reisen!"

"All of you are _idiots,"_ Rumia declared. She grabbed Reisen by the shoulder as she tried to run by, and stopped her in place. Marisa almost fell backwards as Reisen was pulled away from her. "Did all of you _really_ think we were just going to sit here dicking around through all this?"

The darkness generated from Rumia's shadow took on a darker quality, and then rose from the ground in the shape of a round, black portal. Before Reisen could voice her complaints, of which she certainly had several, she was shoved into the swirling blackness, and vanished from sight. "Come on Kana, we're leaving."

"Oh, right~!" Kana giggled, as she watched Rumia step through the darkness. Kana herself floated up from the floor, and gave the remaining individuals in the shrine a departing wave. "Wish me luck.~" she said, before vanishing into the portal behind Rumia. Seconds later, it was gone, leaving the fate of Kana and her child a mystery.

Once the three were gone, Mima sighed. "I really wish they would have given me the chance to come along. I actually _do_ have a good idea of how to handle this sort of situation." Mima merely laughed, when she looked back at Reimu and Marisa. "Unlike you two hopeless girls. You're both over twenty years old, and you freak out so much over something as trivial as going into labor?"

"Hey, that doesn't mean I've ever had to deal with anyone being pregnant in my shrine before!" Reimu said, in trying to defend herself. "I don't get involved with that sort of thing when it comes to babies being born in the village, or youkai doing... whatever it is they feel like doing!"

"Oh, yes.~ Shrine maidens trying to keep pure, and all that." Mima laughed again, and Reimu's face took on a slightly pink tone. "If all the shrine maidens in the world kept up that vow, there wouldn't _be_ a Hakurei Shrine. Maybe you should go see if that teacher in the village teaches a sex ed course.~"

"Yeah, real funny, Mima." Reimu grumbled, and sat back down. With Rumia and Kana gone, and Reisen as well of course, things had at least calmed. Marisa followed Reimu's lead, and took a seat beside Miasma and Hana.

"Is Miss Kana gonna be okay?" Hana asked, her eyes trailing between first her sister, then Marisa, and finally Reimu and Mima.

"Don't you worry your cute little head, she'll be fine.~" Mima's words at least seemed to ease Hana's worries; Miasma didn't think Hana could ever remain in anything other than a cheerful mood for more than a few minutes.

"Where do you think they went, anyway?" Miasma asked. "Over to Eientei? Or do you think they went back to Makai, and brought Eirin there?"

"Probably Makai," Reimu answered. "I get the feeling Rumia probably wants to keep the whole thing somewhat of a secret. There would probably be too many youkai rabbits wanting to sneak in and see what was going on at Eientei."

"Honestly, I don't see what the big deal is.~ They're having a child, it's no big secret." Mima shrugged her shoulders, and shook her head.

"That's because Rumi and Shinki told everyone about it at the party a few weeks ago," Miasma reminded Mima. "It's not like Rumia and Kana publicly announced the fact that she was pregnant themselves."

"Even if the whole thing goes well, we prolly aren't gonna hear from em for a while, ze.~" Marisa leaned over against the table, supporting herself on it with one hand. "Personally, I'll be gladly rid of em for a few more weeks while they're busy raisin' a kid!"

"Unless that kid grows up to be as insane as _they_ are," Miasma was quick to point out.

"It was bad enough with just the two of them, remember?" Reimu said. "How much worse do you think it'll be if their kid is even half as dangerous as either one of them?"

"We'll worry about that _after_ we meet their kid! What's the point in worrying about it now, huh? We don't know what it'll be like yet! Why not just enjoy the next few weeks at least?"

"Bored now!" was Hana's sudden declaration. "Hey, sis, can we go visit mama Utsuho now~?"

Miasma laughed, along with everyone else, a bit surprised by her sister's sudden outburst. "Sure, Hana. I was gonna suggest we stop by when we were done here, but you beat me to it."

"Yay~! You're the best, sis.~" Hana said, as Miasma stood up, and lifted her sister up with her.

"It was starting to get late, anyway," Miasma said, as she glanced outside of the shrine. The sun had begun to set, and it was already starting to get darker. Somehow, the fact that Rumia's child would probably be born in the middle of the night came as no surprise. "Hey, Reimu. Let me know if you hear about Rumia and Kana's baby, alright?"

"I can't imagine you're still too fond of the idea of them having a kid, huh?"

"Not even slightly. You remember even better than I do what Rumia did to my mom." Mima, who at least knew about the battle in Makai, but not of the _original_ fight at the Moriya Shrine, gave Miasma and Reimu an inquisitive look. Neither of them bothered to clarify what Miasma had meant.

"Yeah, I know," Reimu said, sighing. "But Miasma. Picking a fight with Rumia isn't exactly going to bring Medicine back. So, don't go antagonizing her."

"I'm not going to start a fight with Rumia. Don't worry about that. But if she starts one with _me,_ I'm going to be the one that finishes it this time."


	15. Chapter 15: Kana

**Chapter 15: Kana**

* * *

Rumia had taken Kana and Reisen back to Pandaemonium, rather than their own home, or Eirin's office. The former, so as not to give away the (not so) secret location within Makai where they made their home; the latter, to avoid the prying eyes of Kaguya, Tewi, and the other youkai rabbits. Kana remained in labor well into the night, in what was a surprisingly uneventful delivery. That was, up until the very end.

Kana held her firstborn child in her arms, a baby girl that she decided to name Adele, who'd been born just minutes before midnight. "They're just precious, aren't they Rumia?" Kana said, mostly in a haze. She didn't even raise her gaze from the child in her arms to look at the darkness youkai. Rumia remained silent, with her expression unchanged. Even Kana, on most days, had a hard time seeing through Rumia's usually cold demeanor.

"Even I was surprised to find out that she was pregnant with twins," Eirin said, when it became clear Rumia had no intention of speaking up. She still held the second child, who Kana had given birth to only moments earlier.

"I'm just glad the whole thing's done with..." Reisen sighed. "I can finally go back home after this, right?"

"Yes, yes, of course," Eirin answered. She held the bundled infant out to Rumia, with a genuinely pleased look on her face. "Do you want to hold her?"

Rumia looked down at the newborn baby, who had quickly drifted into a dozing state after being born. "Fine," she finally answered. Eirin held her arms toward Rumia, and she lifted the child from the doctor's hands. The action of handing her over must have woken the still unnamed infant, and she opened her eyes slowly, allowing her to see her mother for the very first time. Rumia felt a largely unfamiliar and tense feeling in her chest as she looked into the child's eyes; they were bright red, just like Rumia's. The darkness youkai couldn't help but smile down at her. The action seemed to comfort the child, and she quickly dozed back into her state of half-sleep.

Shinki and Rumi both tentatively stepped toward Rumia, and took their first looks at the younger of the two twins. Shinki adopted a delighted expression upon seeing the look of contentment in the baby's face. "She must really like you already," she said. "She looks just like you, too."

"What are you going to name her?" Rumi asked.

"I don't know." Rumia barely acknowledged her other self with even a glance. "Let Kana do it. She's better with names."

"Oh, hush Rumia.~" Kana said, looking up from Adele for the first time since she'd allowed Eirin to hold their second child. "I got to name Adele. It's only fair that you get to name our other daughter, isn't it?" Kana turned her attention back toward her elder daughter, and playfully prodded her finger at the young girl. "Isn't that right, little Adele? Mommy's just bein' lazy, isn't she?" Adele giggled happily, and grabbed hold and nibbled at Kana's outstretched finger.

"Fine, _I'll_ do it," Rumia snapped back at Kana, who merely stuck her tongue out at the youkai. For as unstable as Kana most certainly was, she was still observant enough to notice the attachment that had already formed between Rumia and their younger daughter. Making Rumia choose the name was the only logical choice.

"I could help you pick a name, if you'd like," Shinki proposed. She stepped in front of Rumia, and looked down at her still unnamed child. "I named all of my children, you know. I'm rather good with names.~"

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'll come up with one myself." Rumia glared at the Makai goddess, but there was little contempt to be found in her expression. It was plain as day that Rumia's thoughts were elsewhere, but none could possibly say just what was going through her mind.

Only Eirin, who among them was the only one with any knowledge of Rumia's parentage (even Rumi had no _actual_ memories of a time before the seal was placed on them), could have made an educated guess on how Rumia was handling the situation. "Just give her some time to think about it," Eirin told Shinki. "Do you really think Rumia is the type to ask for advice, anyway?"

"Oh, she's just stubborn.~" Kana gave a simple, dismissive wave of her hand. "Half the time, even if I'm the one who gives her an idea, she'll just play it off as if she thought of it first, but just didn't say anything.~"

"Well, hopefully having some children of your own will put a stop to some of your other childish antics." Yumeko, who had been standing mostly to the back of the throne room, finally spoke up as she approached the others. Shinki gave the woman a concerned glance, but relented when she seemed satisfied that Yumeko wasn't about to try sparking a major argument. "At the very least, it doesn't seem like this whole thing is just another joke to you, too. So, I'm hoping you'll be taking it seriously."

"Well of _course_ I'm taking it seriously. Silly Yumeko.~" Kana let out a short laugh, as she resumed cradling Adele in her arms. "What kind of mother would I be if I didn't? Silly, silly Yumeko.~" The demon maid merely rolled her eyes.

"Well, I'm happy for both of you!" Rumi said. "I know we might not be on the best of terms..." Rumi glanced specifically at her other self when she said this. "... but I knew you had at least some attachment to Kana, even if you wouldn't want to admit it, Rumia. So I'm glad you both have the chance to have a family together."

"I couldn't have said it any better myself," Shinki said, as she stepped up behind Rumi, and wrapped her arms around the youkai's waist in a loving embrace. "I'm sure that despite what anyone might say, you'll both be fine parents."

"I decided," Rumia finally said, after having gone silent for quite some time. By the look on her face after she spoke, it didn't seem as though she'd even been listening to a word the others had said during the entire few minutes she'd been thinking. "I picked a name, I mean."

"Oh? Did you?" Kana tilted her head, and gave Rumia a puzzled look. "What'd you come up with?"

"Lydia," Rumia answered. The previously unnamed girl in Rumia's arms woke from her sleepy state once again, and stared up at her mother. The fleeting image of what could've been a smile passed her lips. "Her name is Lydia."


	16. Chapter 16: Rumia (II)

**Chapter 16: Rumia (II)**

* * *

The months following the birth of Kana's twins passed by with little incident. Neither Rumia or Kana, nor their daughters, had made any appearances in Gensokyo since that day at the Hakurei Shrine. In fact, with the exception of Eirin and Reisen, no one outside of Makai knew anything about the fate of Kana or her unborn children; the thought that she'd had twins had never occurred to anyone at all.

After sending Eirin and Reisen away, Rumia and Kana returned to their home, away from prying eyes. Not even Shinki or Rumi bothered to pursue them, and Rumia was just fine with this. They'd done a fine job of concealing their home from even those two, but it was better not to have them poking around in the first place.

Kana herself had not left Makai since the birth of the twins. Rumia, on the other hand, had only left on a few excursions into the outside world, to gather up some food. On more than one occasion, this included a few stray humans. After the first incidence of this, she'd made sure to kill them _before_ taking them home. Lydia had not reacted very pleasantly toward watching her mother kill the poor thing in person, and Rumia had agreed not to do it again.

Lydia and Adele both were also growing up quite quickly, even by youkai standards. They were each only a few months old, but they already resembled a human child of at least three or four. Rumia was thankful for _that_ at least. Taking care of infant twins, for however short of a time it might have been, was an agonizingly annoying situation; one that she'd left Kana almost entirely in charge of, she would not deny. Kana seemed happy to do it, anyway, and that suited Rumia just fine. But they had grown out of that stage quickly, and it was apparent just how very different the two girls were.

Adele, the older of the two by several minutes, undeniably took after Kana. She was energetic (though not _nearly_ to the degree that Hana was), and definitely on the _weird_ end of the personality spectrum. "Yay, mom's home~!" Adele shouted, and then flew over toward Rumia, who had returned to their home after one of her visits to the outside world. "Did you bring us back anything, huh? Didja~?" Adele darted energetically around Rumia, and seemed dejected when it was readily apparent that she hadn't returned with anything.

"No, I didn't," she said, and casually brushed Adele aside as she stepped inside. Adele pouted, and drifted through the air behind Rumia, following along with her. "You aren't human, you don't need to eat that much. And I just fed you brats yesterday."

"Wow rude." Adele stuck her tongue out at Rumia.

Rumia chose to ignore this; Adele would've just done it again anyway, even if Rumia had tried to discipline her about it. Lydia sat on the floor of the center room, watching her mother and her sister's interaction with some quiet fascination. Various moving 'toys', brought to life by the results of Adele's ability to liven inanimate objects, danced around on the floor nearby, as part of one of Adele's nonsensical games. Adele had tried to explain the rules of one of these so-called game to Rumia and Kana once, but even Kana could only grasp the basic concept of it. Only Lydia, who it seemed shared a silent psychic connection with her sister, could follow along with it.

When Rumia finally took notice of Lydia, the young girl smiled, and ran over to her mother. She immediately latched onto Rumia's leg, and stared bright-eyed up at her. "What'd you go outside for mommy?" Lydia asked.

"I got bored," she answered simply. Rumia reached down and grabbed Lydia, and hoisted her up in her arms effortlessly. "As much as I'm _sure_ you enjoy my company, for whatever reason, sitting here doing nothing isn't really my style."

Lydia giggled, and threw her arms around Rumia's neck. Kana, who had been sitting in the other room watching Lydia and Adele prior to Rumia's return, drifted over toward the three. "Honestly.~" Kana said, sighing wistfully. "I don't think I've ever heard Lydia say a single word when you weren't around, Rumia dear.~ She's so quiet all the time."

"Well, me and Lyly talk plenty!" Adele floated over on Rumia's other side, closest to Lydia. She smirked at her twin, and Lydia gave Adele a sort of knowing look that Rumia couldn't even begin to try and interpret. "We just don't do it out loud is all. Lyly says she's only comfortable talkin' out loud to Rumia."

Kana placed a hand to her chest, and gave the younger twin an overly dramatic expression, as though she were utterly appalled. "Why, I'm hurt! To think, my own daughter wouldn't want to talk to me...! Well, that's okay.~" Kana dropped the act rather quickly, and then tugged Adele over, and hugged the young girl tightly. "I adore _both_ of my daughters, but I suppose it's only natural they might develop an attachment toward one parent over the other. And my darling Adele still loves me best.~"

"Mom, _stooooop,"_ Adele whined. Kana shushed her, and patted Adele's head.

"You know, Rumia," Kana said finally, once she'd finished with her needless doting on Adele, who had eventually resigned toward it, and was floating contentedly in Kana's arms, "If you're so bored just staying here in Makai, you could always take the girls and go out to Gensokyo. I'm sure they'd love it.~"

"Oh, finally!" Adele cried out, and her face beamed with delight. "Come on, we're old enough to go out, aren't we?"

"You two aren't even half a year old," Rumia responded. Adele stuck her tongue out at Rumia for a second time.

"Well, that shouldn't make a difference anyway! We're plenty old enough, aren't we Lyly?"

Lydia stared at Adele for a moment, no doubt holding their own private conversation, before she faced Rumia again. "Can we go, mommy? If you wanna go somewhere else, then I wanna go with you."

Rumia was not ignorant of the opinions of certain people in Gensokyo, like Yomi or even Miasma, who might seek to inflict harm on Lydia or Adele at the slightest provocation. Rumia was struck with a foreign feeling of protectiveness, and concern about what might befall them if someone were to try and pick a fight. But, Lydia continued to give Rumia a pleading look, and she finally relented. "Okay, fine," Rumia said, causing Adele to cheer loudly once again. "I've got nothing better to do. So I _guess_ there's no problem in taking you two to see Gensokyo."

"There, now was that so hard~?" Kana released Adele, who bolted over to Rumia's side once she'd been let go. "But I'll let you three have your fun this time.~ Maybe _next_ time I'll tag along."

"Yeah, fine." Rumia grabbed Adele's arm as she passed by, and held her still. The darkness of Rumia's own shadow rose from the ground, and engulfed all three. If they were going to visit Gensokyo, Rumia already had just the location in mind to visit first. Surely Reimu wouldn't mind a visit from her old pal Rumia, now would she?


	17. Chapter 17: Reimu (II)

**Chapter 17: Reimu (II)**

* * *

"W... why are _you_ two here...!?" Reimu said, dumbfounded as she stood staring at the two surprising guests that had just strolled through the front door of her shrine.

Watatsuki no Yorihime, who Reimu had met on the moon during Remilia's lunar invasion plan, and her older sister Toyohime, stood near the doorway of the shrine. The two surveyed the room briefly, momentarily ignoring Reimu's question. Yorihime bore a serious expression, whereas her sister seemed more inattentive than anything else. After a moment's consideration, Yorihime turned back to address Reimu, and gave the shrine maiden a faint smile. "I guess you would be surprised to see us. It's not every day someone from the Lunar Capital comes down to Earth."

"For good reason, I'd say," Toyohime added, in a mockingly sweet tone. "I can't imagine that anyone would _willingly_ come down to this mud ball without good reason."

Reimu had met Toyohime once before, shortly after she'd helped to clear Yorihime's name, following their battle on the moon. She knew full well how smug and self-assured the Lunarians could be; she'd spent nearly a full month in the capital after Remilia and the others returned to Gensokyo, during which time Reimu had basically been quarantined away from any self-respecting member of Lunarian society. She was as glad to leave the capital as the Lunarians were glad to be rid of her, although Yorihime had expressed her condolences toward Reimu for the harsh treatment she'd received. During their first meeting, Toyohime struck Reimu as rather kind, though not without a bit of that same patronizing nature that all of the other Lunarians had displayed. Now that she was actually on the Earth's surface, and inside Reimu's shrine, Toyohime did little to hide her disgust.

Yorihime sighed, and gave her sister a reproachful glance. "Try not to take Toyohime's words to heart. This visit was forced upon us... rather suddenly." Yorihime paused, choosing her words carefully. "The situation in the capital has been a bit uncertain in these past few days."

Reimu opened her mouth to question Yorihime about this, but the Lunarian raised her hand to keep the unvoiced question silent. Reimu hesitated, and then squashed the inquiry back down. _Let the moon keep its secrets,_ Reimu thought. She had a feeling that she would find out eventually, anyway.

"We won't be here long, anyway. Probably no more than a week," Toyohime said. She was smiling, but it did little to hide her disgust as she surveyed the shrine. "We're staying at Eientei with our teacher. I _actually_ feel a little bit bad that _any_ living creature, even ones so steeped in sin, should be subjected to such... piteous living environments. I thought one who was blessed by Mugen, as my sister is, would have _some_ semblance of class. I suppose I was wrong."

"If you don't like my shrine, you could always just _leave,"_ Reimu spat out in response, not bothering to hide her irritation with the same sort of false friendliness that Toyohime had donned. The elder sibling's expression flinched slightly, but she gave no indication of her inner thoughts. "You never really answered my question, anyway. Why _are_ the two of you here?"

"We heard some troubling news from Miss Yagokoro last month," Yorihime said, before Toyohime could answer the question herself. Reimu was glad for that, at least. Although she'd lost her battle with Yorihime on the moon, and there was no love lost between her and the other citizens of the lunar capital, Reimu possessed a good deal of respect for her. Far better than the lousy impression Toyohime had, and continued to make. "She told us about a youkai that almost destroyed Gensokyo. And the apparent death of..." Yorihime stalled again, as though stopping herself from saying too much. "... I believe she said it was a moon goddess named Selena, right?" Yorihime looked back at her sister for confirmation, and Toyohime nodded.

"You mean Rumia?" Reimu was surprised that news from Gensokyo would reach as far as the lunar capital; even for something as dramatic as the Rumia incident. But then she took note of what Yorihime said about Selena. "W... wait a second, I never told Eirin about Selena! How'd _she_ find out Selena was dead!?"

The two Lunarians looked at each other once again, and Toyohime shrugged. "She didn't say anything about _how_ she found out in her letter. Only that she knew for a fact that Selena was dead, and has been for over a thousand years," Yorihime continued. "We asked her about it when we arrived last night, but she wouldn't tell us any more than she already had. She said it wasn't important, anyway, only that she thought we ought to know. It was this supposed darkness youkai that was the more pressing concern."

"We heard about _that_ even before Miss Yagokoro's letter arrived," Toyohime added on where her sister had left off. "Yorihime had already been planning to come down even _before_ her letter, but she used that as an excuse to drag me down to this filthy place too."

"At any rate..." Yorihime fixed her sister with another disapproving look, and then returned her gaze to Reimu. "...We were hoping to get the full story from you. Miss Yagokoro said that she was not directly involved in what happened, and I would like to know if this... Rumia, is going to be a continuous problem."

"Is it really such a big deal that the moon needs to get involved? It's not like Rumia's flying around the capital, murdering Lunarians or anything." Although, Reimu thought, rather unkindly, a little terror from Rumia might do them some good. Reimu remembered how Rumia had been able to move freely into the shadows, and wondered if it was possible for Rumia to slip all the way into the darkness of the moon. If she couldn't, Kana's Void abilities probably _could_ take them to the moon.

"Even if she _tried_ I doubt it would matter. If she ever stepped foot in the capital, I assure you we'd dispose of Rumia rather promptly." Reimu groaned. Toyohime smiled at Reimu again. "Do you think we couldn't?"

"I actually think you have no idea what you'd be dealing with if Rumia ever _did_ attack the moon," Reimu responded flatly. Toyohime's expression darkened somewhat, and she was clearly irritated by Reimu's doubts. "It took five of the strongest people in Gensokyo to finally take Rumia down at the end. And I still feel like she _let_ us win."

"If I remember correctly... there were four of you fighting against my sister, when you lot invaded our home. And she wiped the floor with each of you, without even breaking a sweat, didn't she?" Toyohime smirked. Yorihime raised her hand to cover her face, as though embarrassed by her sister's bragging.

"Ugh, that's... not the point! We all fought Yorihime one-on-one, using Gensokyo's spell card rules. She beat us fair and square, I'll admit that. Yorihime is definitely stronger than I am." Reimu didn't really feel any shame in admitting that. For all of her skill at spell card battles, she couldn't deny that there were plenty of individuals in Gensokyo that outclassed her in raw power. "But _Rumia_ doesn't fight fair. I've seen her murder her opponent's loved ones just to antagonize them, and to make them act irrationally!"

Yorihime seemed to show a good bit of shock at this, but Toyohime was unfazed. "Well, that honestly just sounds like the tactics of a weak, cowardly youkai. Even if Rumia _is_ more powerful than the majority of creatures on Earth, she's still _nothing_ compared to the people of the moon."

Reimu threw her arms up in frustration, and let out another loud groan. "Just... forget it! Rumia isn't going to be a problem! I haven't seen her in _months_ anyway. Even if she's still around, it's not like Rumia's going to show up on the moon for no good reason."

"No, of course not." Toyohime smiled again. She was hiding _something,_ but Reimu could not hope to figure out what it was. There was more to this little visit of theirs than just checking up on Rumia, Reimu was sure of it. Even if Rumia had wiped out Gensokyo in its entirety, Reimu _still_ didn't think that the Lunarians would ever care to check up on the situation under normal circumstances. "But since you have been making such a big deal about this Rumia," Toyohime continued, "I suppose we can't call our job finished until we've seen her for ourselves."

"Sister, I hardly think that's neces-" Yorihime began, before she was cut off by Toyohime.

 _"You're_ the one who insisted that I come along, weren't you? So you should be glad that at least _one_ of us wants to do a thorough job of our inspection down here."

"And just _what_ are you supposed to be inspecting, in the first place? This whole Rumia incident?" Reimu asked. Everything about this situation bothered her. The Lunarians had never shown any interest in Gensokyo before. They had never even made any attempts to capture Kaguya and Eirin, who she knew were once fugitives from the moon. The Watatsuki sisters _both_ knew that their former teacher lived in Gensokyo, so surely there were other Lunarians who were aware of this. How else would word of Rumia's attack have gotten to the lunar capital, if not from Eirin herself? Or, if perhaps the Lunarians had been spying on them the entire time, they certainly would have known that Kaguya and Eirin were living publicly in Gensokyo. "Did something happen on the moon that you aren't telling me?"

There was no change in Yorihime's expression, but Toyohime flashed the shrine maiden a particularly harsh look. "Even if something _had_ happened in the capital, I surely wouldn't tell _you._ Now, why don't you be useful, and tell us where we can find Rumia?"

"I don't know why I should tell _you,_ when you're the one who won't give me any decent reason to tell you anything. Other than your stupid Lunarian superiority." Toyohime was quickly reaching her boiling point, and Reimu could see it. She knew that the two sisters both outclassed her in terms of raw strength, and that speaking so brashly toward Toyohime was probably a terrible idea. But since when had Reimu ever done anything other than barge in and attack her problems head-on, anyway?

"I could wipe you _and_ your shrine off the face of the Earth in an _instant_ if I wanted to."

"Sister, _don't-"_

"Oh, all of you, cut your bullshit," echoed Rumia's familiar voice from the shadows. There was a pulse of dark energy that pushed Reimu and Toyohime a step back from each other, and then Rumia materialized between them, standing atop the head of Reimu's shadow. In one arm, Rumia held a small girl in a plain white dress with her blonde hair done up in twintails. The girl stared silently back at Reimu with red eyes that were as bright as Rumia's. In her other hand, Rumia grasped the arm of another girl, who was taller than the first, and with gradient red-yellow hair, and darker red eyes. The second girl immediately wrenched her arm free of Rumia's grasp, and began to dart around the shrine with a wide grin on her face. Rumia shot the girl a disapproving look, before turning her attention back toward Reimu and Toyohime. "You're _both_ pathetic losers. Now, there. I solved your stupid little squabble, just like that."

Toyohime stood looking baffled by the woman's sudden appearance. Of course, she didn't know _who_ she was looking at. Reimu was similarly shocked, but for an entirely different reason. She looked first at the young girl cradled in Rumia's arm, and then at the other who was excitedly looking around the shrine. "Kana had _twins!?"_

Rumia looked at Reimu, at first surprised that she was unaware of this. Then she remembered that, of course, neither she nor Kana had really made any appearances in Gensokyo since Kana had gone into labor at the shrine. Rumia grinned, and then set the girl in her arms down on the floor. Immediately, the girl clung to Rumia's leg, and hid behind her mother, staring up at Reimu through the one eye that wasn't hidden behind Rumia. "Yeah, she did. It just never crossed my mind to bother telling anyone." Rumia placed a hand against the head of the girl clinging to her leg, and rustled her hair gently. The girl smiled, and then finally took a step out from behind Rumia. "This one here's Lydia, the younger twin."

"And _I'm_ Adele~!" the second girl announced, before she ran up beside Reimu. "You're Reimu, right? Adele asked. "Mom told us how she kicked your ass when you guys fought! ... You know, this place is a lot less dumpy-looking than I was expecting from what mom said."

Reimu was taken aback by Adele's... well, admittedly some sort of backhanded compliment, and she was a bit too stunned to comment on it. It wouldn't have mattered either way, because Toyohime had finally recovered from her own stupor, and was eager to voice her _own_ concerns. "And just who are _these_ three supposed to be?"

"The oldest one is Rumia," Reimu answered. Rumia turned her head back toward the Lunarian sisters, and grinned her typical smirk full of razor sharp teeth. "These other two are... her daughters, apparently."

"We never heard anything about Rumia having _children,"_ Yorihime said, with some noted concern in her voice. "If she nearly destroyed Gensokyo, as you claim, don't you think this was something important that you should have mentioned?"

"It's not like either of _you_ have told me anything important." Yorihime immediately closed her mouth. To Reimu's surprise, she actually almost looked ashamed. Whatever was going on, it was clear that she _wanted_ to tell Reimu, but for whatever reason, could not. "Besides, Eirin was the one who helped deliver the twins, right?" Reimu looked toward Rumia, who nodded in agreement. "I'm surprised she didn't mention it in her letter. I didn't even know she'd _had_ twins until just now."

"So I take it these idiots are from the moon," Rumia interjected, before either of the Watatsuki sisters could continue. "For all the stories I've heard, I was expecting something _far_ more intimidating."

"You're one to talk," Toyohime responded. "You don't look any different from the typical youkai scum of the Earth, and I doubt there's anything more powerful down here than Yukari Yakumo, who I've _already_ defeated."

"You might want to watch yourself, if you _really_ think Yukari is the most powerful youkai on Earth." Rumia's grin widened. Lydia tugged at her mother's skirt, drawing the darkness youkai's attention away from the Lunarians. She gave her daughter a gentler smile, and lifted her back up into her arms, where she'd been when the three had appeared in the shrine in the first place. "You must have been one of the Lunarians who routed Yukari's little invasion, way back in the day. Am I right?"

"Almost single-handedly, in fact!" Toyohime was practically brimming with pride. "My sister and I rose through the ranks and became the leaders of the Lunar Defense Corps after the Lunar War. I even defeated Yukari _personally_ before she slunk back to the Earth like the mangy dog she is."

"The youkai back then must have been pretty weak, huh? I could probably kill both of you with my hands tied behind my back." The two Lunarians, Toyohime in particular, both took Rumia's comment as quite the insult. Toyohime even reached a hand down toward the fan that hung loosely from her belt.

"Hey! Don't go starting fights in my shrine again!" Reimu panicked, and immediately jumped between Rumia and Toyohime. She fixed Rumia with a stern look, and the darkness youkai seemed to relax.

"Oh don't worry, I didn't come here to pick fights with Lunarian idiots." Rumia stuck her tongue out at Toyohime, rather childishly. "I'm just here showing my daughters around Gensokyo."

"I can't believe you two are _actually_ from the moon!" Adele suddenly said, before she flew excitedly between Yorihime and Toyohime. "Is it any different on the moon? Do you play any cool games up there? Hey, do you think I could see your sword?" Adele was firing off questions more quickly than either of the sisters could hope to answer them, and at her last, she'd begun to reach toward the sword sheathed at Yorihime's hip.

"No, you can't touch my sword," Yorihime told the young girl, before taking a step back. Adele seemed disappointed, but she didn't push the subject. "Yes, I'd say the Lunar capital is quite different from Gensokyo. Although, I suppose the Outside World has developed in a similar fashion. All of the Lunarians live in one large city on the moon's surface, isolated from the rest of the barren landscape of the moon by a powerful border, much like the one that separates Gensokyo from the Outside World."

"That sounds kind of like Makai! We don't actually live in Gensokyo, but in Makai, most of the demons live in one big city surrounding a giant fortress! But we live pretty far off from everyone else. Mom says she likes her privacy, so she made sure no one can find our house. It's a place no one really visits, but mom said it's the part of Makai where-"

"It's not a secret if you go around telling everyone, Adele. So keep your mouth shut." Adele glanced back at Rumia, and then shrugged her shoulders in a 'whoops~' sort of gesture. "The cities in the Outside World are probably larger than the Lunar Capital, anyway. Last I heard, there were really only a few thousand Lunarians left, since I heard the lot of you almost _never_ have kids."

"Life and death are just another form of the corruption on Earth," Toyohime answered. "The capital exists in a state of purity and eternity. We do not die, and to give birth would threaten the continued purity of our society, the same way that dying would."

"Except you can still be _killed,_ whether it's through combat, or just some form of accident." Toyohime's expression remained unchanged when Rumia pointed this out, but Reimu could guess that it was not something she'd wanted to be reminded of. "Face it, your whole society is eventually going to die off some day. Even if you _do_ live forever, you're all going to die one way or another if you all just sit on your fucking space rock. I bet anything that there are probably less than _half_ the same number of Lunarians alive up there than there were when you founded your extravagant little city."

"My sister and I were among the Lunarians born _after_ the capital was founded. Lord Tsukiyomi purified the moon and its inhabitants several years after he led us to the moon to escape the corruption of Earth," Yorihime explained. She looked at her sister, who was clearly too irritable by now to give any sort of _calm_ explanation, and then continued. "I don't know how many of us there were back then. But there were enough of us born after we were taken to the moon that the Lunarians would be able to sustain themselves. Although, there hasn't been a child born in the capital for over five hundred years."

"Well, whatever. Unless you're just using medicine or something else to keep yourselves sterile, I'd say you're missing out." Rumia grinned, and nudged Toyohime's arm with her elbow. "I could drag you both off to Reimu's bedroom if you want, show you what sex on Earth is like.~"

"Don't _touch_ me!" Toyohime immediately recoiled from Rumia's touch, and fixed both her and Lydia with a look of utter disgust.

"And don't try seducing people in _my_ shrine!" Reimu added, with equal revulsion.

"Lighten up, Reimu. As if I'd _really_ waste my time on a pair of stuck up moon bitches."

"You are a vulgar, _repulsive_ creature, even by Earth standards! I'd be doing both of our worlds a favor by destroying you right here!" Toyohime shouted her threats, and Rumia merely laughed them off. Rumia's complete disregard of her only added fuel to the fire burning beneath the woman's surface. "The fact that you were allowed to even _breed_ is an even bigger insult! Those filthy little abominations you call daughters are the only thing on this planet even more foul than you yourself!"

Rumia's expression darkened, and the laughter had vanished from her features. Lydia buried her face against Rumia's chest and muttered something that Reimu couldn't hear. Even if Lydia had spoken more clearly, Reimu didn't think she would have been able to pay it much attention, anyway. Her focus was on the shadows, which begun to fluctuate rapidly on the floor; particularly around Rumia and Lydia. It wasn't like the usual sharp focus that Rumia applied to most of her attacks, but rather, it seemed to be reacting based purely on emotion. Reimu realized that she had yet to actually ask Rumia what Lydia or Adele's abilities actually _were._

"I really don't give a _shit_ what you say about me, you ignorant bitch. But you will _not_ threaten my daughters." Rumia swung her free hand outward, and a wave of dark energy pushed Toyohime backwards, against the wall of the shrine. The Lunarian woman slammed against the wall with a cry of surprise, and then slumped down to her knees, shocked that Rumia had even managed to hurt her so suddenly. "You're nothing more than a fucking glorified human with a god complex."

Floating near Yorihime, Adele cheered. "Yeah, go mom! Kick her ass!" Yorihime, meanwhile, didn't even know how to react.

"How _dare_ you attack me! And then you _insult_ me!" Toyohime screamed. Her right hand darted for the fan at her hip. "I'll wipe you off the face of the Earth!" Toyohime opened the fan, and made ready to swing it in Rumia's direction. Yorihime screamed at her sister to stop, but her words fell on deaf ears. Neither Reimu nor Rumia knew what to expect, but it was too late for either of them to react accordingly.

If not for the shadows that rose to shield them, Rumia and Lydia would both likely have been obliterated in an instant. The wall of the shrine behind them, however, had not been quite so fortunate. The wave of destruction that blew forth from Toyohime's fan eradicated a hole in the back wall of the shrine on a molecular level, leaving a vaguely Rumia-shaped portion of the wall in its center unharmed. The walls of shadow that appeared to protect Rumia and her daughter rose in waves, each rising to replace the decimated remains of the previous barrier that eventually fell to Toyohime's attack, until finally, a jagged spear of darkness impaled itself through Toyohime's hand, causing her to drop the fan to the floor.

Rumia stood in place with a stunned look that led Reimu to believe that she _hadn't_ been the one to call the shadows to protect herself. Rumia glanced down at Lydia, and then back at Toyohime. Lydia muttered against Rumia's chest again, just barely audible amidst the silence that had fallen over the shrine. "Don't hurt my mommy,'" she said, and repeated quietly several times. The shadows surrounding her and Rumia began to fluctuate once again, although not as violently as before.

"What the... hell just happened...?" Reimu said, barely aware that she was talking at all, and not just thinking to herself.

"Toyohime...! You could've destroyed the entire shrine!" Yorihime shouted at her sister. She was torn between trying to reprimand Toyohime, and jumping to her aid when she saw Rumia beginning to approach the downed Lunarian. The whole situation had gotten so out of hand that she didn't know what to do.

"You... you _injured_ me..." Toyohime muttered, as she stared at her bloodied right hand, which was still impaled by the darkness rising from the floor. Her fan was still within reach, and she extended her left hand toward it.

"Don't even try." Rumia slammed her boot down on Toyohime's hand, and the Lunarian let out a pained cry. The youkai woman set Lydia back down on the floor beside her, and then reached to pick up Toyohime's dropped weapon. Lydia gave Toyohime a concerned look, and then clung to Rumia's leg again. Rumia inspected the fan, which was actually an advanced Lunarian weapon, and then glared back down at Toyohime. "Whatever that attack was, I highly doubt it was all your own power that caused it. This must be some kind of weapon, right?" When Toyohime refused to answer Rumia's question, she proceeded to grind her boot against the woman's hand, breaking several of her fingers in the process.

"Yes, it is," Yorihime answered, for Toyohime's sake. She stepped beside Rumia, with one hand clutched around the base of her sword. She had not drawn the blade, but the threat was clear. Yorihime took once glance down at Lydia, and made eye contact briefly with the young girl, and then noticed that the shadows had begun to fluctuate more rapidly. She released her sword, and then took a step away from Rumia and Lydia. "You won't be able to use it. That weapon is special Lunarian technology; only Toyohime would be able to use it."

"I see. Whatever, it's not like I wanted it in the first place." Rumia grinned down at Toyohime, and then surrounded the fan with her darkness. The shadows pulled apart at the Lunarian weapon, and broke it to pieces, until it was little more than fading flecks of darkness in the air. "You _might_ have actually been able to kill me with that thing, you know. It's too bad you'll never get another shot at it. Even if you _do_ come back with another one."

"I don't _need_ weapons to kill you," Toyohime spat out at Rumia. "I could send you to the vacuum of space and leave you to die, or into the core of the sun to burn to nothing in an instant."

"If you _could_ I think you would've already done it." Rumia removed the shadow that pierced Toyohime's hand, and then lifted her boot from the other hand, but not before kicking the Lunarian square in the jaw on the way up. Toyohime crashed back to the floor with her mouth bloodied, and groaning in pain. "The only reason you're even still alive, moon bitch, is because I don't want to kill you in front of my daughter. But if I ever see you again, I _will_ destroy you."

Toyohime scrambled to her feet, and stared back at Rumia. It wasn't quite fear in her eyes, but humiliation. And beneath that, fiery defiance. Her hands trembled in pain; one of them bleeding heavily, and the other with numerous broken fingers. Toyohime took one look over at Yorihime, and then proceeded to storm out of the shrine. "We're _leaving,_ sister."

"Toyohime, wait-" Yorihime tried to stop her sister, but she was out of the shrine before anything could be done about it. Yorihime sighed, and then turned back toward Reimu and Rumia. "I apologize for my sister's behavior. We've both been under a lot of stress lately, though I can't tell you why."

"Even if that's true... Rumia, you shouldn't been gone antagonizing her like that." Reimu frowned at the other two, and then looked back at the ruined wall of her shrine. "This is the _second_ time you've been involved in the near destruction of my home."

"I _said_ I didn't want to fight her. And _she_ was the one who threatened my daughters." Rumia gently placed her hand on Lydia's head, causing the young girl to smile up at her mother. The fluctuating shadows in the room began to calm themselves, until only Lydia's shadow showed any sign of life.

Yorihime looked first at Reimu, and then back at Rumia and Lydia. She met Lydia's gaze, and the young girl's smile faded into an expression of shy apprehension. Yorihime sighed again, and pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers. "Toyohime went too far. Rumia is right. I don't _like_ you, Rumia. You're arrogant, and vulgar, like my sister said. But you acted in your daughter's defense, rather than to attack Toyohime. So I will not hold any grudge against you for this."

Yorihime bowed respectfully at Reimu, and then turned to leave the shrine. She stopped halfway out the door, and then turned her head back to address the shrine maiden one last time. "I'll make sure that your shrine is repaired before I return to the capital. It was... nice seeing you again, Reimu." With that out of the way, Yorihime left the shrine, trying to catch up with her sister, who had almost certainly returned to Eientei to have her wounds treated.

With both of the Watatsukis gone, Adele burst into a new fit of laughter, and drifted over toward her mother. "That was _awesome,_ mom! You sure showed those moon bitches who's boss!"

"Watch your fucking mouth, Adele," Rumia said, without any real conviction.

"You aren't exactly setting a great example there, Rumia," Reimu said. Rumia grinned back at her, now much more at ease with the Lunarian sisters gone. "Don't look so happy. You still got involved in another fight in my shrine, even if it _was_ with Toyohime!"

"Don't give me that shit. You would've started a fight with her yourself if I hadn't shown up." Reimu didn't respond. She couldn't exactly argue the point, because Rumia was probably right. Toyohime, it seemed, had been looking to pick a fight with someone right from the start. Rumia was just the one that had finally sparked the tension waiting to explode from within her.

"So, those were the two that thwarted Yukari's stupid invasion, huh? To be perfectly honest, I was at least expecting _something_ better than that," Rumia grunted out. "Looks to me like all she could do was rely on her stupid fan to do anything. Any moron can go buy a weapon. Even if it _is_ some bullshit advanced moon technology. Doesn't make her anything fuckin' special."

"I don't know much about Toyohime personally, but... I've seen her sister's power firsthand, you know. She was one of the most powerful opponents I've ever encountered. Maybe not as dangerous as you, but..."

"I'm flattered.~"

"Don't let it get to your head. I don't care what you told your kids, but you still got your ass kicked in Makai." Adele snickered at Reimu's response. "But Yorihime has the same abilities I do. She can call on the powers of the gods, only she has a _lot_ more skill with it than I do."

"Then maybe you should ask her for training, Reimu.~" Rumia dropped down to a sitting position beside the small table in the room's center. Lydia came up beside Rumia, and sat by her side. "Maybe if you got good, you might actually be able to put up a fight against me. Sure, I might have lost in Makai. But you _did_ have... what, four other people helping you? Plus those two that stayed behind to fight Kana? And let's face it. If I wasn't so concerned with intercepting that bitch Lilith, I probably would've destroyed all _five_ of you."

"I don't really want to find that out." Reimu looked at both of Rumia's daughters. The two were looking at each other, and Adele was laughing quietly to herself at something Reimu couldn't understand. When Reimu looked at Lydia, the young girl turned to meet the shrine maiden's gaze. After a moment of hesitation, Lydia smiled up at her. Reimu was surprised; Lydia at least didn't seem to harbor any of Rumia's sadistic nature, if her quiet and shy demeanor was any indication. Reimu smiled back at Lydia, and sat down opposite her and Rumia. "I'm hoping that by now, you've put all of that violent stupidity behind you. At least for your daughters' sake, if nothing else."

"What's it matter, anyway? None of you could stop me if I really wanted to. There's no fun in it if there's no challenge." Rumia brushed her hand against Lydia's hair, and smiled. "You've got nothing to worry about."

Lydia giggled, and nestled herself comfortably against her mother's side. Adele drifted down from the air, and sat atop the table not far from Rumia, and let out an overly dramatic yawn. "Hey mom, I'm gettin' bored. Don't ya know any places more interesting than this?"

"You got to see me humiliate some loser from the moon. What the hell else do you want, a fucking parade?"

"Do they _have_ those here!?" Rumia groaned, and rolled her eyes. "Well, if they _don't,_ why don't we go visit more places, huh? Like that mansion, or maybe Shinki's place! You know, somewhere a little flashier, maybe?"

"Yes, fine. We'll go to the mansion next." Adele cheered with enthusiasm, and hopped off the table to sit beside Lydia. She grinned in silence as she nudged Lydia on the shoulder, and her sister giggled in response to some unknown joke between them.

"You know, Rumia, I meant to ask," Reimu began, watching Lydia and Adele with some curiosity, "do you actually know what sorts of abilities those two have? Because, when you were fighting Toyohime... I got the impression that you weren't the one that used the shadows to defend yourself."

Rumia took one look down at Lydia, who was too engaged in her silent conversations with Adele to pay her mother any mind, and then frowned slightly. "Yeah, that was Lydia. I don't think she really controls them consciously, but I guess she can probably control nearby shadows. Not to the extent _I_ can, but still." Rumia paused in thought, and then continued, "Oh, and I'm pretty sure she can reanimate the dead."

"She... controls the _dead?"_ Reimu shuddered with revulsion. The only other instance of raising the dead she'd encountered before had been between Seiga and Yoshika, and she didn't really condone the idea of creating undead servants very much. It just screamed villainous intentions. "How did you figure _that_ one out?"

"I brought a live human from the outside world home for dinner one day, and then I killed it." Rumia described her act of abduction and murder just as casually as any person would about going to the store to buy milk or bread, which was really just as disturbing as the act itself to Reimu. "Lydia didn't take it too well, so I told her I'd just kill them _before_ I brought them home. She tried bringing the corpse back to life, but it was basically just a mindless zombie by that point. So we just ate it anyway."

"... Lovely." Reimu could have said any number of things to reprimand Rumia at that moment, not the least of which was promoting the idea of eating humans to her daughters, but what would be the point in arguing over it anyway? The outside world wasn't Reimu's concern to begin with, so she figured she could overlook Rumia's actions, just as long as she didn't cause any more trouble.

"As for Adele, I doubt she actually has any of _my_ abilities anyway," Rumia continued. "She takes more after Kana."

 _"I_ can use Void magic!" Adele proclaimed, rather proudly. _"And_ I can bring inanimate objects to life."

 _If there's anything more dangerous than Rumia's abilities,_ Reimu thought to herself, _it's Kana's control over the Void. I'll have to keep a close eye on these two._ Adele struck Reimu as rather unpredictable. She was energetic, but not particularly malicious, like Kana. Then again, she was still a child. Lydia, on the other hand... for as quiet as she was, Reimu didn't know _what_ to make of that one. Although she clearly hadn't responded positively toward Rumia's fight with Toyohime, or having some poor human murdered in front of her, so perhaps Lydia wouldn't be as troublesome.

"Just as long as you two don't go around Gensokyo causing trouble like your parents did, I don't care," Reimu said, finally. "I have no problem sending either of you crying back to Makai to your mom if I catch you hurting anyone, or stirring up incidents."

"You could _try.~"_ Adele responded defiantly.

Rumia merely grinned. "If either of them are being little shits, they'd probably deserve it anyway. But if you decided to harm one of my daughters without good reason, Reimu, well... Let's just say, in either scenario, _someone_ is going to be on the receiving end of a second beating."

Rumia looped her arm around Lydia's waist, and hoisted her up to her shoulder as she stood back up. "I'd say I've taught my daughters well enough for them to know what would happen if they ever did anything stupid, like attacking Gensokyo for no good reason. So unless _all_ of us, Kana included, decided to wipe you all out, I should say there won't be any more problems. Satisfied?"

Reimu sighed. "Yes, fine. I'm not worried. Lydia and Adele both seem like decent kids to me." Reimu just hoped they would _stay_ that way, and not grow up to be more like Rumia.

"Perfect," Rumia said. She reached out with her free arm, and seized Adele's wrist. "Come on kid, were leaving."

"Bye bye, Reimu.~" Adele waved back at Reimu with a wide grin across her face. "Come on Lydia, you gotta say somethin' too!"

Lydia smiled shyly, and gave the shrine maiden a small wave. "Bye Reimu," Lydia said; the only words she'd spoken out loud toward anyone other than Rumia during her entire visit to the shrine. A moment later, all three of them, Rumia and her daughters, vanished into the shadows.

Reimu felt more relieved than she'd expected to, especially after that brief spat between Rumia and Toyohime. When she'd first heard that Rumia was having a child, she'd expected much worse. Her satisfaction of having met the twins, and realizing that her fears had been largely for nothing, had almost caused her to forget her newfound worries about the secrets that Yorihime and her sister had been so clearly hiding. They sank to the back of her mind, dormant but not completely forgotten. Those concerns would not surface again until the Lunarians would try to purify Gensokyo for repopulation some months later.


	18. Chapter 18: Satori (I)

**Part 3: Conflict's Rebirth**

* * *

 **Chapter 18: Satori (I)**

* * *

Satori Komeiji looked up before she had even heard the knock on her door. She could hear the kasha's thoughts even as she'd turned the corner into the hallway that led to Satori's room. Her pets rarely approached her room unless she requested them to, or unless they'd had good reason; and Satori could sense the fear in this one's mind.

Satori marked her place in the book she'd been reading and set it beside a stack of almost a dozen others that she'd already finished. Still other stacks of books were scattered around the vicinity of her desk, some that she had even written herself, in a seemingly random form of organization. Many of them would need to be returned to her own personal library (although it was easily one of the largest libraries on Earth, even containing a collection of demon books that would've put Kosuzu's to shame), now that she was finished with them. Perhaps she'd order the kasha outside of her door to do that very task, once she'd said what she needed to.

Even as Satori approached the door, the kasha's thoughts became clearer. _Utsuho is still gone,_ Satori thought. She recalled what Rin had said. Almost a year ago now, it was. Utsuho had been taken in by a youkai named Yuuka Kazami, after being defeated in battle. Satori hadn't particularly cared at the time, and having dismissed Rin, returned to her room without giving it a second thought. There were other pets to watch the Former Hell in Utsuho's stead, whether she returned home or not. One less hell raven made little difference.

Apparently it _did_ make a difference. Utsuho did not return, and now the other pets were concerned. As Satori pulled open the door, the kasha on the other side jumped to attention. A young little thing, Satori hadn't even recognized her at first in her human form. A cat recently turned youkai, like so many others that resided in Chireiden, and the Former Hell itself. "L-lady Satori...! I'm... so sorry to disturb you!"

 _Just get on with it,_ Satori thought to herself, as her third eye pried through the kasha's confused train of thought. She saw mental images of Utsuho, of the other pets in charge of managing the flames of the Former Hell, all in a jumbled mess as the kasha tried to put those thoughts into words.

"See it's been almost a year now, and... Utsuho never came back, so..."

"... 'now the fires of the Former Hell are burning out of our control'," Satori finished for the girl, her voice never fluctuating out of its usual bored-sounding inflection. "If you were so worried about being unable to manage the fires yourself, why did none of you go find Utsuho yourself?"

The girl flinched away slightly. The wordless pets of Chireiden, the Palace of the Earth Spirits, all looked upon Satori fondly. Those who could not communicate vocally, as they had not yet become youkai, could appreciate Satori's ability to understand their thoughts, and respond to them in kind. While those older pets, who had since become youkai and were able to communicate normally, grew to fear Satori's abilities, as all others eventually did. That fear was a feeling Satori had grown accustomed to, and it no longer bothered her. _Let them fear me,_ she had told herself. _Even the shunned youkai of the underground know to fear one such as me._ There was no longer any place for her among youkai society. She lived alone in Chireiden, spending her time reading and writing, while sending her pets out to perform most tasks that required leaving the palace walls. Not even her younger sister, Koishi, remained. She had long since ventured off to the above ground world, and Satori could count on one hand the number of times she'd seen her sister since she'd closed her third eye. These days, Satori only ever really had _one_ visitor... and she rarely ventured all the way out to Chireiden either.

"Well, n-none of us except Rin have ever... gone above ground." The kasha's words brought Satori back into the present moment, and she once again regarded the girl with that same dead-eyed stare. "And because it's been so long, we thought... we should maybe ask you what to do."

Satori's lip twitched into a slight frown, but she said nothing. She recalled the name Rin had mentioned: Yuuka Kazami. She was not someone that Satori had ever met personally, but there was some familiarity to it. Someone she may have read about, perhaps. If that were true, she must surely be someone of at least moderate significance. Perhaps Utsuho was still with this person, somewhere in Gensokyo.

As Satori pondered this in silence, the kasha stood warily in front of her master, unsure of whether or not to speak out. Even as she decided to finally break the silence, however, Satori cut her off. "Take my books back to my library," she said, before stepping out of the room, and turning down the hall. "See to it that my room is clean by the time I get back."

The kasha stood stunned behind Satori, unsure of what to do or say. Satori could sense that she wanted to say _something,_ probably to ask if Satori was indeed going to go bring Utsuho back down to Chireiden herself. As Satori walked past the corner, the kasha's mind now drifting out of range, the last thing she could hear (in her mind, anyway) was the young kasha finally deciding to obey her master's order.

That was good. Hopefully the girl would move quickly. Satori had no intention of wasting more time above ground than was necessary.

The foyer of the ancient underground palace was alive with the sounds of its various pets roaming about. It seemed that the status of the Nuclear Furnace, which was in fact Utsuho's job to manage, was direr than Satori had initially realized. And she had been so blissfully unaware, having kept to herself for so long these last several weeks. It was not unusual for Satori to lock herself up in her room for days at a time without leaving. Being surrounded by so many others, to have _all_ of their thoughts speaking aloud in her mind at once, was always a sure way to give herself a headache.

Rin, being one of the oldest and most powerful youkai in the palace (by far the oldest and most powerful kasha for sure), seemed to be in charge of things. She stood closest to the palace front doors, directing certain factions of the other pets into continuing to try and maintain the fires beneath Chireiden, while sending others out into the Ancient City for anything that might be of use. She didn't even notice Satori approaching until she was already within arm's reach.

"Rin," Satori said, causing Rin to jump in surprise at the sound of her master's voice, "why didn't you go to retrieve Utsuho, when you realized she wasn't about to return on her own?"

"A-ah! Lady Satori!" Rin seized up in a panic, and already Satori could see everything that she needed to know. She saw the face of the youkai that had battled with Utsuho, and it was plain that Rin was terrified of this woman, Yuuka Kazami. And on top of that, embarrassed that she hadn't done anything about it. "I-I was going to, honest, but-"

"Enough." Satori raised her hand, silencing Rin instantly. Even her jumbled thoughts had ceased. Satori had her complete attention. "I don't particularly care _why_ you didn't go get Utsuho yourself. Although I already _know_ why," Satori drawled on, and she sighed softly before she continued. "I'm going to get Utsuho myself. This is the _second_ time that her negligence has brought trouble to my door, and I won't stand for it."

Satori stepped past Rin without even giving her a chance to respond. She could see plainly what Rin was thinking, that Satori would not change her mind. That much was true. Rin would know better than to try. So long as she kept the fires of the Former Hell from burning Chireiden to the ground, Satori would be satisfied. That was the best Rin could hope for. She didn't want to see what would happen if Satori _really_ got angry.

Eyes followed Satori as she walked along the main road of the Ancient City. It was not often that the master of Chireiden ventured out on her own accord, but the people of the underground had not forgotten her. Not even the oni of the Ancient City wanted to have their minds read, and a good number of them avoided her. It was a sentiment that Satori shared, however. _Drunken filth, the lot of them,_ Satori often thought to herself when thinking of the oni. Always looking for a fight, always looking for more to drink. Not the sort of company Satori wished to associate herself with, even if most of them avoided her. The majority of the oni, as powerful as they were, might not have feared her like so many other races did, but their avoidance was good enough for her.

Gensokyo, on the other hand, held a more mysterious quality to Satori. It had been almost a thousand years since she had last ventured above the ground. Not since her race had been utterly decimated, and she had fled below ground with her infant sister. She wondered if they would still fear her as well. They would probably be right to. She, like so many of the other creatures living below the surface, had been shunned by the people above, and forgotten. Yes, they would fear her, but perhaps they might not remember why.

Satori's train of thought was intruded upon by the mental voice of another (two others, actually) that was approaching her from behind. Satori did not turn to see, nor did she slow her walking; she already knew who it was even before they spoke. "'ey, Satori!" the cheery voice of Yuugi Hoshiguma called from close behind. "Been a while since I've seen ya out and about, what's the occasion?"

"Finally decide to come out drinkin' with us?" came the voice of Suika Ibuki, another oni, and a close friend of Yuugi. The two were certainly among the more sociable oni of the underground (which was saying a lot), and two of the few individuals who didn't outright avoid Satori.

"No," was all that Satori said. She didn't even hesitate, or turn to face the two, and merely continued on her path.

"Ah, I get it. Goin' to visit Parsee, is it?" Satori didn't need to see Yuugi to know that she was grinning; she actually felt it. "You're just about the only one she seems to get along with, for whatever reason."

"I have business in Gensokyo," Satori said flatly. This seemed to stun the two oni, who had probably never heard of Satori ever leaving the borders of the Ancient City, let alone heading above ground. "I have no patience for your drunken idiocy today."

Satori continued on, never stopping, leaving the two to share a look of bafflement between each other, before they shrugged it off and (Satori believed, anyway) no doubt left to resume their drinking and partying. It amazed her that the two of them still even tried to communicate with her, when she'd made it very clear that she preferred being left alone. Satori supposed that it was just part of Yuugi's nature. Perhaps she simply respected Satori's power to some degree. Probably she wanted to goad Satori into a fight one day, but she wouldn't bother, not unless she had a good reason.

Satori doubted that Yuugi would feel very enthusiastic about challenging her in the future if that day ever came.


	19. Chapter 19: Parsee

**Chapter 19: Parsee**

* * *

If there was ever a youkai in the underground more detested than Satori Komeiji, it was Parsee Mizuhashi. Deep underground, she guarded the bridge between Gensokyo and the Ancient City, allowing few to pass. Those that _did_ were either fortunate enough to catch Parsee on a good day, or were simply strong or fast enough to barge past her. The ones that were foolish enough to attempt to outnumber her were met with a particularly cruel fate, when Parsee would sow the seeds of jealousy among their number, until they turned and destroyed themselves instead.

It was partially due to this universally agreed upon hatred toward the two that allowed for Parsee and Satori to become friends.

Not one person (human, youkai, or otherwise) had left or entered the underground in several months; not since before the resolution of the Rumia incident. Parsee had seen to that personally, violently assaulting anyone who dared to try and get past her.

Partly because of this, Parsee was quite surprised to see Satori approaching the bridge. "Tch... just be glad you aren't one of those oni. I might've torn your face off by now."

"It's nice to see you again too, Parsee," Satori replied, in her usual drawling voice. Satori stared back at Parsee with what only seemed to be mild interest, but it was something Parsee was used to. She could practically feel when Satori was probing her mind, and she'd long since stopped trying to complain about it. "You've been busy, it sounds like. I _do_ hope you aren't going to stop me from going up to Gensokyo."

 _"You're_ going topside? That's a new one." Parsee had to restrain from laughing at the very thought of it. "Last I remember you telling me, you haven't gone up to Gensokyo in almost a thousand years. What, did the former hell freeze over?"

"Quite the opposite, actually." The barest hint of a smile touched the corners of Satori's lips. A rare sight, even Parsee had to admit, but it eased her worries somewhat. "Utsuho ventured up to Gensokyo some time ago, and never returned. I'm going to retrieve her, personally, before the former hell burns Chireiden to the ground."

"If she's not _dead_ by now." Parsee remembered the day, some months back, that Marisa had come from Gensokyo, with Utsuho and Koishi by her side, to try and beg her for help to fight against The Voidborn. Parsee had attacked all three of them before she could even finish explaining what had called The Voidborn to the physical world in the first place, and sent them crawling back to Gensokyo with more than a few new wounds.

"The Voidborn?" Satori asked, interrupting Parsee's train of thought. "Then it's no wonder you've been attacking anyone trying to enter Gensokyo. Though you might have gone overboard, attacking Utsuho and my sister as well. You didn't think to _ask_ what had happened?"

"If something up there caused _her_ to show up, then I don't want any of them coming down here bringing that trouble with them. Or for that matter, letting anyone from down _here_ alerting her that I'm down here." Parsee growled with irritation. What little she _did_ know about The Voidborn was enough to tell her that whatever could have caused her intervention was nothing to be trifled with, and she wanted nothing to do with it. "I don't care what made them show up, either. But I'd bet there's nothing even _left_ up there. Haven't seen more than a few people trying to get by since I chased those three off, and most of 'em lived down here to begin with."

"Then you should have nothing to worry about from me," Satori answered. "I've kept your secrets all these years, haven't I?"

"You're really _that_ insistent on getting up there?" This time, Satori _did_ smile unmistakably. Parsee sighed, and shook her head in resignation. "Don't blame me if you get caught up in whatever's been going on up there. That stupid bird is probably dead, anyway. Just be glad I didn't kill her myself."

 _"Someone_ needs to drag Utsuho back here, whether she's alive or not, and I doubted you'd let any of my other pets pass by without me to vouch for their intentions." It didn't take a mind reader to figure _that_ one out, Parsee realized. "And now, I must say. I'm rather curious to see for myself what's happened in Gensokyo recently."

"Just don't go getting yourself obliterated, if you can help it," Parsee grunted out.

"What ever would you _do_ with yourself if I died?" Satori stepped past Parsee and onto the bridge, and then placed a hand on the other youkai's shoulder. "I'll be back soon, Parsee. I have no intention of wasting my time up there for longer than I need to. I'll find out what's been happening, and then drag Utsuho home. And if she _is_ dead? So be it. I'll get someone _else_ to manage the former hell in her stead."

The words were cold but Parsee didn't even flinch. She had no doubt that Satori would do exactly as she said; she always did.


End file.
